
Class _3^2JLEJL 

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CopyrightN il_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




Exterior of Cathedral, Messina 



SHAKESPEARE'S 



COMEDY OF 



Much Ado about Nothing 



EDITED, WITH NOTES 
BY 

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D. 

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK • : - CINCINNATI ■ : . CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



a,£ a * 



LIBRAS sRESS 

two Gopi«s tfeceivfcd 

MAR 6 1905 

CLASS A XXC Nos 
COPY B. 

^-^. -x =J 






ShclK>J^ r >- u. iunl ft 



Copyright, 1878 and 1898, bv 
HARPER & BROTHERS. 

Copyright, 1905, by 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE. 



MUCH ADO. 
W. P. I 



PREFATORY NOTE 

This play, which I first edited in 1878, is now 
presented in a thoroughly revised form, on the same 
general plan as its predecessors in the new series. In 
this work I have been much indebted to Dr. Furness's 
" New Variorum " edition, published in 1899, as the 
references to it in the Notes inadequately show. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction to Much Ado about Nothing 
The History of the Play . 
The Sources of the Plot . 
General Comments on the Play 



Much Ado about Nothing 
Act I 
Act II . 
Act III . 
Act IV . 
ActV . 



Notes 



Appendix 

The Title of the Play 
Comments on Some of the Characters 
The Time-Analysis of the PJay 
List of Characters in the Play 



PAGE 

9 

9 

10 

12 
21 

40 

67 

90 

107 
*35 



233 

235 
244 
246 



Index of Words and Phrases Explained 



249 




Street in Messina 



.->%,-<: 




Messina from the Sea 



MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 



The History of the Play 



Much Ado about Nothing was first published in 
quarto form in 1600, but was not reprinted until it ap- 
peared in the folio of 1623. The printers of the latter 
seem to have used a copy of the quarto belonging to 
the library of the theatre and corrected for the purposes 
of the stage ; but the changes are mostly very slight, and 
seldom for the better. In iv. 2 "Kemp" is prefixed to 
most of the speeches of Dogberry, and " Cowley " or 
"Couley" to those of Verges. These are the names of 
actors of the time, and were probably inserted in the 
stage copy for their convenience in learning their parts. 
With the fourth speech in this scene we find the prefix 
" Andrew" a name that cannot be identified with that 
of any comic actor of the period ; but perhaps, as 

9 



io Much Ado about Nothing 

Halliwell-Phillipps suggests, it was the familiar appel- 
lation of some one in the company. 

As the play is not mentioned in Meres's list, while, 
according to the title-page of 1600, it had then been 
" sundrie times publike ly acted," it was probably writ- 
ten in 1599. 

The Sources of the Plot 

Some of the earlier incidents of the serious portion 
of the plot may have been taken from the story of Ario- 
dante and Ginevra in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (canto 
v.) ; where Polinesso, in order to revenge himself on 
the princess Ginevra (who has rejected his suit and 
pledged her troth to Ariodante), induces her attendant 
Dalinda to personate the princess, and to appear at 
night on a balcony to which he ascends by a rope-ladder 
in sight of Ariodante, whom he has stationed there to 
witness the infidelity of Ginevra. A translation of this 
story was entered on the Stationers' Registers in 1566 ; 
and in 1582 a play entitled Ariodante and Genevora 
was performed before the Queen " by Mr. Mulcaster's 
children." Spenser had also introduced the story, with 
some variations, in the Faerie Queene (ii. 4. 17 fol.), and 
this part of the poem was published in 1590. 

It is more probable, however, that Shakespeare drew 
this part of his materials from the 2 2d Novel of Ban- 
dello, which had been translated into French by Belle- 
forest in his Histoires Tragiques, and probably also into 
English, though the version is not extant. In Ban- 



Introduction 1 1 

delicts book, as in the play, the scene is laid at Mes- 
sina ; the father of the slandered girl is Lionato ; and 
the friend of her lover is Don Piero, or Pedro. How 
closely the poet has followed the novel will be seen 
from the outline of the latter given by Staunton : " Don 
Piero of Arragon returns from a victorious campaign, 
and with the gallant cavalier Timbreo di Cardona is 
at Messina. Timbreo falls in love with Fenicia, the 
daughter of Lionato di Lionati, a gentleman of Messina, 
and, like Claudio in the play, courts her by proxy. He 
is successful in his suit, and the lovers are betrothed ; 
but the course of true love is impeded by one Girondo, 
a disappointed admirer of the lady, who determines to 
prevent the marriage. In pursuance of this object, he 
insinuates to Timbreo that Fenicia is false, and offers 
to show him a stranger scaling her chamber window. 
The unhappy lover consents to watch ; and at the 
appointed hour Girondo and a servant in the plot pass 
him disguised, and the latter is seen to ascend a ladder 
and enter the house of Lionato. In an agony of rage 
and jealousy, Timbreo in the morning accuses the lady 
of disloyalty, and rejects the alliance. Fenicia falls 
into a swoon ; a dangerous illness supervenes ; and the 
father, to stifle all rumours hurtful to her fame, removes 
her to a retired house of his brother, proclaims her 
death, and solemnly performs her funeral obsequies. 
Girondo is now struck with remorse at having ' slan- 
dered to death ' a creature so innocent and beautiful. 
He confesses his treachery to Timbreo, and both de- 



12 Much Ado about Nothing 

termine to restore the reputation of the lost one and 
undergo any penance her family may impose. Lionato 
is merciful, and requires only from Timbreo that he 
shall wed a lady whom he recommends, and whose face 
shall be concealed till the marriage ceremony is over. 
The denouement is obvious. Timbreo espouses the 
mysterious fair one, and finds in her his injured, 
loving, and beloved Fenicia." 

The comic portion of the play is Shakespeare's own, 
as indeed is everything else in it except this mere skele- 
ton of tragic incident. Claudio and Hero, Don Pedro 
and Don John, are as really his own creations as Bene- 
dick and Beatrice, Dogberry and Verges, who have no 
part in Bandello's novel or Ariosto's poem. 

Furness believes that Shakespeare was indebted for 
portions of his plot to an earlier play rather than to 
Ariosto or Bandello, but to me this seems highly im- 
probable. 

General Comments on the Play 

It is a tribute of no slight significance to Shake- 
speare's skill in the delineation of character that we 
instinctively regard the personages in his mimic world 
as real men and women, and are not satisfied to think 
of them only as they appear on the stage. We like to 
follow them after they have left the scene, and to specu- 
late concerning their subsequent history. This is well 
illustrated by not a few of the criticisms on the present 
play. The commentators are not willing to dismiss 



Introduction 13 

Benedick and Beatrice when the drama closes, without 
discussing the question whether they probably " lived 
happily ever after." 

Mrs. Jameson says : " On the whole we dismiss 
Benedick and Beatrice to their matrimonial bonds 
rather with a sense of amusement than a feeling of con- 
gratulation or sympathy ; rather with an acknowledg- 
ment that they are well-matched and worthy of each 
other, than with any well-founded expectation of their 
domestic tranquillity. If, as Benedick asserts, they are 
both ' too wise to woo peaceably,' it may be added that 
both are too wdse, too witty, and too wilful to live peace- 
ably together. We have some misgivings about Bea- 
trice — some apprehensions that poor Benedick will 
not escape the ' predestinate scratched face ' which he 
had foretold to him w T ho should win and w r ear this 
quick-witted and pleasant-spirited lady ; yet when we 
recollect that to the wit and imperious temper of Bea- 
trice is united a magnanimity of spirit which would 
naturally place her far above all selfishness and all 
paltry struggles for power — when we perceive in the 
midst of her sarcastic levity and volubility of tongue, 
so much of generous affection and such a high sense of 
female virtue and honour, we are inclined to hope the 
best." 

The poet Campbell, in his introduction to the play, 
remarks: "Mrs. Jameson concludes with hoping that 
Beatrice will live happy with Benedick, but I have no 
such hope ; and my final anticipation in reading the 



14 Much Ado about Nothing 

play is the certainty that Beatrice will provoke her Bene- 
dick to give her much and just conjugal castigation. She 
is an odious woman. . . . I once knew such a pair. The 
lady was a perfect Beatrice ; she railed hypocritically 
at wedlock before her marriage, and with bitter sincerity 
after it. . . . Beatrice is not to be compared, but con- 
trasted, with Rosalind, who is equally witty ; but the 
sparkling sayings of Rosalind are like gems upon her 
head at court, and like dewdrops on her bright hair in 
the woodland forest." 

Verplanck, after quoting this passage, comments 
upon it thus : " We extract this criticism, partly in 
deference to Campbell's general exquisite taste and 
reverent appreciation of Shakespeare's genius, and 
partly as an example of the manner in which accidental 
personal associations influence taste and opinion. . . . 
Beatrice's faults are such as ordinarily spring from the 
consciousness of talent and beauty, accompanied with 
the high spirits of youth and health, and the play of a 
lively fancy. Her brilliant intellectual qualities are 
associated with strong and generous feelings, high con- 
fidence in female truth and virtue, warm attachment 
to her friends, and quick, undisguised indignation at 
wrong and injustice. There is the rich material which 
the experience and the sorrows of maturer life, the af- 
fection and the duties of the wife and the mother, can 
gradually shape into the noblest forms of matronly 
excellence ; and such, we doubt not. was the result 
shown in the married life of Beatrice." 



Introduction 15 

Furnivall says on the same subject : " Beatrice is the 
sauciest, most piquant, sparkling, madcap girl that 
Shakespeare ever drew, and yet a loving, deep-natured, 
true woman too. . . . She gives her heart to Benedick. 
The two understand one another. We all know what it 
means. The brightest, sunniest married life, comfort 
in sorrow, doubling of joy. . . . The poet Campbell's 
story of his pair was an utter mistake : he never knew 
a Beatrice." 

Gervinus, after discussing the question at consider- 
able length, and with due German profundity, comes to 
the same wise conclusion : " We have no reason to be 
anxious either for the constancy or for the peaceable- 
ness of this pair. The poet has bestowed upon them 
two names of happy augury." 

Charles Cowden- Clarke, while he defends Beatrice 
against Campbell, strangely expresses the opinion that 
she does not really love Benedick. Their union, he 
thinks, was " like ninety-nine hundredths of the mar- 
riages that take place in society," one of mere friend- 
ship rather than strong mutual affection. He quotes 
- in support of this view what Beatrice says in the arbour 
after being led to believe that Benedick is in love with 

her : — 

" And, Benedick, love on ; I will requite thee, 
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. 

If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee 
To bind our loves up in a holy band ; 

For others say thou dost deserve, and I 

Believe it better than reportingly." 



1 6 Much Ado about Nothing 

He adds : " There is no avowal of passion, methinks, 
in that speech. It is merely an acquiescent one — ' If 
thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee ' to tie the 
knot." So good a critic as Cowden-Clarke should have 
remembered that kindness in Shakespeare, as in other 
writers of the time, is often used in a much stronger 
sense than now. Schmidt, in his Lexicon, puts fully 
one-third of the instances in which the poet uses the 
word under the head of " affection, tenderness, love ; " 
and this passage is very properly one of the number. 
Another striking one is in the 15 2d Sonnet : — 

" For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness, 
Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy ; " 

where the second line explains the first. In this speech 
of Beatrice kindness is evidently used for variety of 
expression, the word love, in one form or another, 
occurring in every one of the four lines. The speech is 
really full of tender passion. It may strike one at first 
as too strong an outburst of affection for so sudden a 
one — and from the sarcastic Beatrice withal! But, as 
Mrs. Jameson and others have noted, Beatrice was 
ready to fall in love with Benedick at the opening of the 
play. Now that she believes him to be in love with 
her, the response of her own heart is prompt and unre- 
strained. No utterance of affection could be more 
impulsive or more earnest. " Contempt, farewell ! and 
maiden pride, adieu ! " are almost her first words ; and 



Introduction 17 

then follows that spontaneous and clearly joyous 
apostrophe, — 

" And, Benedick, love on ; I will requite thee, 
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand." 

And at once she goes on to the pledge of marriage, 
which no woman who did not love would have been so 
quick to do. Juliet's prompt surrender of herself to 
Romeo, when she is assured of his love, is not more 
sudden and unreserved. She is not more ready than 
Beatrice to look forward to the marriage which is to 
be the crown and consummation of that love. 

When Don Pedro first suggested that Beatrice would 
be an excellent wife for Benedick, Leonato replied : 
" O Lord ! if they were but a week married they would 
talk themselves mad." Some of the critics, as we have 
seen, have been confident that it was an unfortunate 
match ; but, for myself, I have no doubt that it was one 
of the marriages made in heaven and happy to the end. 

The dramatic construction of the play deserves brief 
consideration before bringing this imperfect discussion 
of it to a close. It is a curious fact that the underplot 
far surpasses in interest the main story to which it 
is subordinate. A careless reader, if asked what the 
main plot is, might hastily decide that it is the part 
played by Benedick and Beatrice, including the strata- 
gem by which their friends lead them to fall in love with 
each other ; but this is merely an episode in the story 
of Claudio and Hero. That forms the main plot, and, 

MUCH ADO 2 



1 8 Much Ado about Nothing 

as we have seen, it was borrowed by the dramatist from 
the Italian Bandello (to whom he had already been 
indebted for the chief incidents of Romeo and Juliet), 
while the underplot, with its two brilliant characters, 
was Shakespeare's own invention. The two stories are 
interwoven so skilfully that, if we did not know their 
history, we should never suspect that they were not 
originally parts of a single narrative. 

The first introduction of the underplot indicates 
plainly enough its episodical character. The plan for 
bringing Benedick and Beatrice " into a mountain of 
affection the one with the other " is suggested by Don 
Pedro, who has already shown his talent for match- 
making, to fill the interim between the betrothal and 
the marriage of Claudio. It is carried out to the point 
where each of the victims believes the other to be 
desperately in love. Being, as we have seen, ready to 
love, they become inflamed with mutual passion, but 
have not declared it to each other. Meanwhile the plot 
of Don John has led to the rupture between Claudio and 
Hero. Both Beatrice and Benedick believe Hero to be 
innocent, and their common interest in her vindication 
prepares the way for a mutual confession of love. 
Beatrice is weeping over her cousin's unmerited grief 
and disgrace, and Benedick tries to comfort her. He 
tells her that he believes Hero is wronged. "Ah," 
exclaims Beatrice, " how much might the man deserve 
of me that would right her ! " This leads to the mutual 
declaration of love and to the promise of Benedick that 



Introduction 19 

he will challenge Claudio. This scene is the link that 
connects the two stories of the plot ; and at the same 
time it aids in the development of both. It was only 
in some such way that the love story could go on. 
Only in such a situation, when the lovers were com- 
pelled to be serious and earnest, can we imagine them 
coming to an understanding as to their real feelings 
towards each other. " Through the catastrophe that 
has overwhelmed Hero the way is made easy for the 
mutual confession of love." 

From this point the double plot is rapidly and 
happily unravelled, and after much ado about nothing 
all that has been confused and perplexed is made joy- 
ously clear. The dead Hero is alive again, Claudio 
escapes the punishment he merits, the good Friar who 
suggests the device of her pretended death — more 
fortunate than his brother of Verona in a similar well- 
meant deception — is happy that his confidence in the 
innocence of Hero is justified ; and marriage bells are 
about to ring for two pairs of lovers instead of one. 
Honest Dogberry, we may believe, congratulates him- 
self on his share in the fortunate result, and is more 
pompous and self-conceited than ever. He has a right, 
however, to be proud that though written down an ass 
he has accomplished, in his blundering way, what wiser 
men had failed to achieve — the baffling of Don John's 
malice and the vindication of the gentle Hero. 



MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 



DRAMATIS PERSONJE 

Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon. 
Don John, his bastard brother. 
Claudio, a young Lord of Florence. 
Benedick, a young Lord of Padua. 
Leonato, Governor of Messina. 
Antonio, his brother. 
Balthazar, attendant on Don Pedro. 

£=>•, f*"°-™ of Don John. 

Friar Francis. 
Dogberry, a constable. 
Verges, a headborough. 
A Sexton. 
A Boy. 

Hero, daughter to Leonato. 
Beatrice, niece to Leonato. 

Ur\ R ula RET ' [ S entlewomen attending on Hero. 
Messengers, Watch, Attendants, etc. 
Scene : Messina. 




" Walking in a thick-pleached alley 



ACT I 

Scene I. Before Leonato'' s House 

Enter Leonato, Hero, and Beatrice, with a 
Messenger 

Leonato. I learn in this letter that Don Pedro of 
Arragon comes this night to Messina. 

Messenger, He is very near by this ; he was not 
three leagues off when I left him. 

Leonato. How many gentlemen' have you lost in 
this action ? 

2} 



24 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

Messenger. But few of any sort, and none of 
name. 

Leonato. A victory is twice itself when the achiever 
brings home full numbers. I find here that Don 
Pedro hath bestowed much honour on a young Flor- 
entine called Claudio. 12 

Messenger. Much deserved on his part and equally 
remembered by Don Pedro ; he hath borne himself 
beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of 
a lamb the feats of a lion. He hath indeed better 
bettered expectation than you must expect of me to 
tell you how. 

Leonato. He hath an uncle here in Messina will 
be very much glad of it. 20 

Messenger. I have already delivered him letters 
and there appears much joy in him, even so much 
that joy could not show itself modest enough with- 
out a badge of bitterness. 

Leonato. Did he break out into tears ? 

Messenger. In great measure. 

Leonato. A kind overflow of kindness ; there are 
no faces truer than those that are so washed. How 
much better is it to weep at joy than to joy at 
weeping ! 30 

Beatrice. I pray you, is Signior Montanto returned 
from the wars or no ? 

Messenger. I know none of that name, lady ; there 
was none such in the army of any sort. 

Leonato. What is he that you ask for, niece ? 



Scene ij Much Ado about Nothing 25 

Hero. My cousin means Signior Benedick of 
Padua. 

Messenger. O, he 's returned, and as pleasant as 
ever he was. 39 

Beatrice. He set up his bills here in Messina 
and challenged Cupid at the flight ; and my uncle's 
fool, reading the challenge, subscribed for Cupid 
and challenged him at the bird-bolt. I pray you, 
how many hath he killed and eaten in these wars ? 
But how many hath he killed? for indeed I prom- 
ised to eat all of his killing. 

Leonato. Faith, niece, you tax Signior Benedick 
too much ; but he' 11 be meet with you, I doubt it not. 

Messenger. He hath done good service, lady, in 
these wars. 50 

Beatrice. You had musty victual, and he hath holp 
to eat it. He is a very valiant trencher-man ; he 
hath an excellent stomach. 

Messenger. And a good soldier too, lady. 

Beatrice. And a good soldier to a lady ; but what 
is he to a lord ? 

Messenger. A lord to a lord, a man to a man, 
stuffed with all honourable virtues. 

Beatrice. It is so, indeed, he is no less than a stuffed 
man ; but for the stuffing — well, we are all mortal. 60 

Leonato. You must not, sir, mistake my niece. 
There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Bene- 
dick and her ; they never meet but there 's a skir- 
mish of wit between them. 



26 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

Beatrice. Alas ! he gets nothing by that. In our 
last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, 
and now is the whole man governed with one ; so 
that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, 
let him bear it for a difference between himself and 
his horse, for it is all the wealth that he hath left, to 
be known a reasonable creature. — Who is his com- 
panion now ? He hath every month a new sworn 
brother. 73 

Messenger. Is 't possible ? 

Beatrice. Very easily possible. He wears his faith 
but as the fashion of his hat ; it ever changes with 
the next block. 

Messenger. I see, lady, the gentleman is not in 
vour books. 

Beatrice. No ; an he were, I would burn my study. 
But, I pray you, who is his companion ? Is there no 
young squarer now that will make a voyage with him 
to the devil ? S3 

Messenger. He is most in the company of the 
right noble Claudio. 

Beatrice. O Lord, he will hang upon him like a 
disease ; he is sooner caught than the pestilence, 
and the taker runs presently mad. God help the 
noble Claudio ! if he have caught the Benedick, it 
will cost him a thousand pound ere he be cured. 90 

Messenger. I will hold friends with you, lady. 

Beatrice. Do, good friend. 

Leonato. You will never run mad, niece. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 27 

Beatrice. No, not till a hot January. 
Messenger. Don Pedro is approached. 

Enter Don Pedro, Don John; Claudio, Benedick. 
and Balthazar 

Don Pedro. Good Signior Leonato, you are come 
to meet your trouble ; the fashion of the world is to 
avoid cost, and you encounter it. 

Leonato. Never came trouble to my house in the 
likeness of your grace ; for trouble being gone, com- 
fort should remain, but when you depart from me 
sorrow abides and happiness takes his leave. 102 

Don Pedro. You embrace your charge too will- 
ingly. I think this is your daughter. 

Leonato. Her mother hath many times told me so. 

Benedick. Were you in doubt, sir, that you asked 
her? 

Leonato. Signior Benedick, no ; for then were you 
a child. 

Don Pedro. You have it full, Benedick ; we may 
guess by this what you are, being a man. Truly, the 
lady fathers herself. — Be happy, lady ; for you are 
like an honourable father. 113 

Benedick. If Signior Leonato be her father, she 
would not have his head on her shoulders for all 
Messina, as like him as she is. 

Beatrice. I wonder that you will still be talking, 
Signior Benedick ; nobody marks you. 



28 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

Benedick. What, my dear Lady Disdain ! are you 
yet living? 120 

Beatrice. Is it possible disdain should die while 
she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Bene- 
dick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if 
you come in her presence. 

Benedick. Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is 
certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted ; 
and I would I could find in my heart that I had not 
a hard heart, for truly, I love none. 

Beafrice. A dear happiness to women ; they would 
else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I 
thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour 
for that ; I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow 
than a man swear he loves me. 133 

Benedick. God keep your ladyship still in that 
mind ! so some gentleman or other shall scape a 
predestinate scratched face. 

Beatrice, Scratching could not make it worse, 
an 't were such a face as yours were. 

Benedick. Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher. 

Beafrice. A bird of my tongue is better than a 
beast of yours. 141 

Benedick. I would my horse had the speed of 
your tongue, and so good a continuer. But keep 
your way, o' God's name ; I have done. 

Beatrice. You always end with a jade's trick; I 
know you of old. 

Don Pedro. That is the sum of all, Leonato. — 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 29 

Signior Claudio and Signior Benedick, my dear 
friend Leonato hath invited you all. I tell him we 
shall stay here at the least a month, and he heartily 
prays some occasion may detain us longer. I dare 
swear he is no hypocrite but prays from his heart. 152 

Leonato. If you swear, my lord, you shall not be 
forsworn. — [To Don Jo/in] Let me bid you welcome, 
my lord ; being reconciled to the prince your brother, 
I owe you all duty. 

Don John. I thank you ; I am not of many words, 
but I thank you, 

Leonato. Please it your grace lead on ? 

Don Pedro. Your hand, Leonato ; we will go to- 
gether. 161 
[Exeunt all except Benedick and Claudio. 

Claudio. Benedick, didst thou note the daughter 
of Signior Leonato ? 

Benedick. I noted her not, but I looked on her. 

Claudio. Is she not a modest young lady ? 

Benedick. Do you question me, as an honest man 
should do, for my simple true judgment ; or would 
you have me speak after my custom, as being a pro- 
fessed tyrant to their sex? 

Claudio. No ; I pray thee speak in sober judg- 
ment. 171 

Benedick. Why, i' faith, methinks she 's too low for 
a high praise, too brown for a fair praise, and too 
little for a great praise ; only this commendation I 
can afford her, that were she other than she is, she 



30 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

were unhandsome, and being no other but as she is, 
I do not like her. 

Claudio. Thou thinkest I am in sport ; I pray 
thee tell me truly how thou likest her. 

Benedick. Would you buy her, that you inquire 
after her ? . 181 

Claudio. Can the world buy such a jewel ? 

Benedick. Yea, and a case to put it into. But 
speak you this with a sad brow ? or do you play the 
flouting Jack, to tell us Cupid is a good hare-finder 
and Vulcan a rare carpenter ? Come, in what key 
shall a man take you, to go in the song ? 

Claudio. In mine eye she is the sweetest lady 
that ever I looked on. 

Benedick. I can see yet without spectacles, and 
I see no such matter ; there 's her cousin, an she 
were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much 
in beauty as the first of May doth the last of De- 
cember. But I hope you have no intent to turn 
husband, have you? 195 

Claudio. I would scarce trust myself, though I 
had sworn the contrary, if Hero would be my wife. 

Benedick. Is 't come to this, in faith ? Hath not 
the world one man but he will wear his cap with sus- 
picion ? Shall I never see a bachelor of threescore 
again ? Go to, i' faith ; an thou wilt needs thrust 
thy neck into a yoke, wear the print of it and sigh 
away Sundays. — Look, Don Pedro is returned to 
seek you. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 31 



Re-enter Don Pedro 

Don Pedro. What secret hath held you here, that 
you follow not to Leonato's ? 

Benedick. I would your grace would constrain me 
to tell. 

Doji Pedro. I charge thee on thy allegiance. 209 

Benedick. You hear, Count Claudio. I can be 
secret as a dumb man, I would have you think so ; 
but, on my allegiance, mark you this, on my alle- 
giance. — He is in love. With who ? now that is your 
grace's part. Mark how short his answer is : — With 
Hero, Leonato's short daughter. 

Claudio. If this were so, so were it uttered. 

Benedick. Like the old tale, my lord : 'it is not 
so, nor 't was not so, hut, indeed, God forbid it 
should be so.' 219 

Claudio. If my passion change not shortly, God 
forbid it should be otherwise. 

Don Pedro. Amen, if you love her, for the lady 
is very well worthy. 

Claudio. You speak this to fetch me in, my lord. 

Do?i Pedro. By my troth, I speak my thought. 

Claudio. And, in faith, my lord, I spoke mine. 

Benedick. And, by my two faiths and troths, my 
lord, I spoke mine. 

Claudio. That I love her, I feel. 

Don Pedro. That she is worthy, I know. 230 

Benedick. That I neither feel how she should be 



32 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

loved nor know how she should be worthy, is the 
opinion that fire cannot melt out of me ; I will die 
in it at the stake. 

Don Pedro. Thou wast ever an obstinate heretic 
in the despite of beauty. 

Claudio. And never could maintain his part but 
in the force of his will. 238 

Benedick. That a woman conceived me, I thank 
her ; that she brought me up, I likewise give her 
most humble thanks ; but that I will have a recheat 
winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an in- 
visible baldrick, all women shall pardon me. Be- 
cause I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, 
I will do myself the right to trust none ; and the fine 
is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a 
bachelor. 

Don Pedro. I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale 
with love. 249 

Benedick. With anger, with sickness, or with hun- 
ger, my lord, not with love ; prove that ever I lose 
more blood with love than I will get again with 
drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker's 
pen and hang me up at the door of a brothel-house 
for the sign of blind Cupid. 

Don Pedro. Well, if ever thou dost fall from this 
faith, thou wilt prove a notable argument. 

Benedick. If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat 
and shoot at me ; and he that hits me, let him be 
clapped on the shoulder and called Adam. 260 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 33 

Don Pedro. Well, as time shall try ; 
' In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.' 

Benedick. The savage bull may, but if ever the 
sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's horns 
and set them in my forehead ; and let me be vilely 
painted, and in such great letters as they write ' Here 
is good horse to hire,' let them signify under my sign 
6 Here you may see Benedick the married man.' 

Claudio. If this should ever happen, thou wouldst 
be horn-mad. 270 

Don Pedro. Nay, if Cupid have not spent all his 
quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly. 

Benedick. I look for an earthquake too, then. 

Don Pedro. Well, you will temporize with the 
hours. In the mean time, good Signior Benedick, 
repair to Leonato's ; commend me to him and tell 
him I will not fail him at supper, for indeed he hath 
made great preparation. 

Benedick. I have almost matter enough in me for 
such an embassage ; and so I commit you — 280 

Claudio. To the tuition of God ; from my house, 
if I had it, — 

Don Pedro. The sixth of July ; your loving friend, 
Benedick. 

Benedick. Nay, mock not, mock not. The body 
of your discourse is sometime guarded with frag- 
ments, and the guards are but slightly basted on 
neither. Ere you flout old ends any further, ex- 
amine your conscience ; and so I leave you. [Exit. 

MUCH ADO — 3 



34 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

Claudio. My liege, your highness now may do me 
good. 290 

Don Pedro. My love is thine to teach ; teach it but 
how, 
And thou shalt see how apt it is to learn 
Any hard lesson that may do thee good. 

Claitdio. Hath Leonato any son, my lord? 

Don Pedro. No child but Hero ; she 's his only heir. 
Dost thou affect her, Claudio ? 

Claudio. O, my lord, 

When you went onward on this ended action, 
I look'd upon her with a soldier's eye, 
That lik'd, but had a rougher task in hand 
Than to drive liking to the name of love ; 300 

But now I am return'd and that war-thoughts 
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms 
Come thronging soft and delicate desires, 
All prompting me how fair young Hero is, 
Saying I lik'd her ere I went to wars, — 

Don Pedro. Thou wilt be like a lover presently 
And tire the hearer with a book of words. 
If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it, 
And I will break with her and with her father, 
And thou shalt have her. Was 't not to this end 310 
That thou began 'st to twist so fine a story ? 

Claudio. How sweetly you do minister to love, 
That know love's grief by his complexion ! 
But lest my liking might too sudden seem, 
I would have salv'd it with a longer treatise. 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 35 

Don Pedro. What need the bridge much broader 
than the flood ? 
The fairest grant is the necessity. 
Look, what will serve is fit ; 't is once, thou lovest, 
And I will fit thee with the remedy. 
I know we shall have revelling to-night ; 320 

I will assume thy part in some disguise 
And tell fair Hero I am Claudio, 
And in her bosom I '11 unclasp my heart 
And take her hearing prisoner with the force 
And strong encounter of my amorous tale. 
Then after to her father will I break ; 
And the conclusion is, she shall be thine. 
In practice let us put it presently. [Exeunt 

Scene II. A Room in Leonato 1 s House 
Enter Leonato and Antonio, meeting 

Leonato. How now, brother ! Where is my cousin, 
your son ? hath he provided this music ? 

Antonio. He is very busy about it. But, brother, 
I can tell you strange news that you yet dreamt not 
of. 

Leonato. Are they good ? 

Antonio. As the event stamps them ; but they have 
a good cover, they show well outward. The prince 
and Count Claudio, walking in a thick-pleached alley 
in mine orchard, were thus much overheard by a 10 
man of mine : the prince discovered to Claudio that 



36 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

he loved my niece your daughter and meant to ac- 
knowledge it this night in a dance ; and if he found 
her accordant, he meant to take the present time by 
the top and instantly break with you of it. 

Leonato. Hath the fellow any wit that told you 
this ? 

Antonio. A good sharp fellow r ; I will send for 
him, and question him yourself. 19 

Leonato. No, no ; we will hold it as a dream till 
it appear itself ; but I will acquaint my daughter 
withal, that she may be the better prepared for an 
answer, if peradventure this be true. Go you and 
tell her of it. — [ Enter attendants^ Cousins, you 
know what you have to do. — 0,1 cry you mercy, 
friend ; go you with me, and I will use your skill. — 
Good cousin, have a care this busy time. \_Exeunt. 

Scene III. The Same 
Enter Don John and Conrade 

Conrade. What the good-year, my lord ! why are 
you thus out of measure sad ? 

Don John. There is no measure in the occasion 
that breeds ; therefore the sadness is without limit. 

Conrade. You should hear reason. 

Don John. And when I have heard it, what bless- 
ing brings it ? 

Conrade. If not a present remedy, at least a 
patient sufferance. 9 



Scene ill] Much Ado about Nothing 37 

Don John. I wonder that thou, being, as thou sayest 
thou art, born under Saturn, goest about to apply a 
moral medicine to a mortifying mischief. I cannot 
hide what I am ; I must be sad when I have cause 
and smile at no man's jests, eat when I have stomach 
and w r ait for no man's leisure, sleep when I am 
drowsy and tend on no man's business, laugh when 
I am merry and claw no man in his humour. 17 

Conrade. Yea, but you must not make the full 
show of this till you may do it without controlment. 
You have of late stood out against your brother, and 
he hath ta'en you newly into his grace, where it is 
impossible you should take true root but by the 
fair weather that you make yourself ; it is needful 
that you frame the season for your own harvest. 24 

Don John. I had rather t>e a canker in a hedge than 
a rose in his grace, and it better fits my blood to be 
disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob 
love from any ; in this, though I cannot be said to 
be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but 
I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a 
muzzle and enfranchised with a clog ; therefore I 
have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my 
mouth, I would bite ; if I had my liberty, I would do 
my liking ; in the mean time let me be that I am and 
seek not to alter me. 35 

Conrade. Can you make no use of your discontent ? 

Don John. I make all use of it, for I use it only. 
— Who comes here ? — 



38 Much Ado about Nothing [Act I 

Enter Borachio 
What news, Borachio ? 39 

Borachio. I came yonder from a great supper ; 
the prince your brother is royally entertained by 
Leonato, and I can give you intelligence of an in- 
tended marriage. 

Don John. Will it serve for any model to build 
mischief on ? What is he for a fool that betroths 
himself to unquietness ? 

Borachio. Marry, it is your brother's right hand. 

Don John. Who ? the most exquisite Claudio ? 

Borachio. Even he. 

Don John. A proper squire ! And who, and who? 
which way looks he ? 51 

Borachio. Marry, on Hero, the daughter and heir 
of Leonato. 

Don John. A very forward March-chick ! How 
came you to this ? 

Borachio. Being entertained for a perfumer, as I 
was smoking a musty room, comes me the prince 
and Claudio, hand in hand, in sad conference ; I 
whipt me behind the arras, and there heard it agreed 
upon that the prince should woo Hero for himself, 
and having obtained her, give her to Count Claudio. 

Don John. Come, come, let us thither ; this may 
prove food to my displeasure. That young start-up 
hath all the glory of my overthrow ; if I can cross 
him any way, I bless myself every way. You are 
both sure, and will assist me ? 66 



Scene III] Much Ado about Nothing 39 

Co7irade. To the death, my lord. 

Don John. Let us to the great supper ; their cheer 
is the greater that I am subdued. Would the cook 
were of my mind ! Shall we go prove what 's to be 
done? 

Borachio. We '11 wait upon your lordship. [Exeunt 




The Masquerade 



ACT II 



Scene I. A Hall in Leon ato's House 
Enter Leonato, Antonio, Hero, Beatrice, and others 

Leonato. Was not Count John here at supper ? 

Antonio. I saw him not. 

Beatrice. How tartly that gentleman looks ! I 
never can see him but I am heart-burned an hour 
after. 

Hero. He is of a very melancholy disposition. 

Beatrice. He were an excellent man that were 
made just in the midway between him and Bene- 

40 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 41 

dick ; the one is too like an image and says nothing, 
and the other too like my lady's eldest son, ever- 
more tattling. 11 

Leonato. Then half Signior Benedick's tongue in 
Count John's mouth, and half Count John's melan- 
choly in Signior Benedick's face, — 

Beatrice. With a good leg and a good foot, uncle, 
and money enough in his purse, such a man would 
win any woman in the world — if he could get her 
good will. 

Leonato. By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get 
thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue. 

Antonio. In faith, she 's too curst. 21 

Beatrice. Too curst is more than curst. I shall 
lessen God's sending that way ; for it is said, ' God 
sends a curst cow short Tiorns,' but to a cow too 
curst he sends none. 

Leonato. So, by being too curst, God will send you 
no horns. 

Beatrice. Just, if he send me no husband ; for the 
which blessing I am at him upon my knees every 
morning and evening. Lord ! I could not endure a 
husband with a beard on his face ; I had rather lie in 
the woollen. 32 

Leonato. You may light on a husband that hath no 
beard. 

Beatrice. What should I do with him ? dress him 
in my apparel and make him my waiting-gentle- 
woman ? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, 



42 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

and he that hath no beard is less than a man ; and he 
that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that 
is less than a man I am not for him. Therefore I 
will even take sixpence in earnest of the bear-herd, 
and lead his apes into hell. 42 

Leonato. Well, then, go you into hell ? 

Beatrice. No, but to the gate, and there will the 
devil meet me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his 
head, and say ' Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you 
to heaven ; here 's no place for you maids.' So de- 
liver I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the 
heavens ; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and 
there live we as merry as the day is long. 50 

Antonio. [To Hero'] Well, niece, I trust you will be 
ruled by your father. 

Beatrice. Yes, faith ; it is my cousin's duty to 
make curtsy and say ' Father, as it please you.' — 
But yet for all that, cousin, let him be a handsome 
fellow, or else make another curtsy and say ' Father, 
as it please me.' 

Leonato. Well, niece, I hope to see you one day 
fitted with a husband. 59 

Beatrice. Not till God make men of some other 
metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to 
be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust ?_ to 
make an account of her life to aTcTod of wayward 
marl? No, uncle, I'll none; Adam's sons are my 
brethren, and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my 
kindred. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 43 

Leonato. Daughter, remember what I told you ; if 
the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your 
answer. 69 

Beatrice. The fault will be in the music, cousin, 
if you be not wooed in good time ; if the prince be 
too important, tell him there is measure in every 
thing, and so dance out the answer. For, hear me, 
Hero ; wooing, wedding, and repenting is as a Scotch 
jig, a measure, and a cinque-pace. The first suit is 
hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantas- 
tical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, 
full of state and ancientry ; and then comes repent- 
ance, and with his bad legs falls into the cinque-pace 
faster and faster till he sink into his grave. 80 

Leonato. Cousin, you apprehend passing shrewdly. 

Beatrice. I have a good eye, uncle ; I can see a 
church by daylight. 

Leonato. The revellers are entering, brother ; make 
good room. [All put on their masks. 

Enter Don Pedro, Claudio, Benedick, Balthazar, 
Don John, Borachio, Margaret, Ursula, and 
others, masked. 

Don Pedro. Lady, will you walk about with your 
friend ? 

Hero. So you walk softly and look sweetly and 
say nothing, I am yours for the walk; and especially 
when I walk away. 90 

Don Pedro. With me in your company ? 



44 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

Hero. I may say so, when I please. 

Don Pedro. And when please you to say so ? 

Hero. When I like your favour ; for God defend 
the lute should be like the case ! 

Don Pedro. My visor is Philemon's roof ; within the 
house is Jove. 

Hero. Why, then, your visor should be thatch'd. 

Don Pedro. Speak low, if you speak love. 

[Drawing her aside. 

Balthazar. Well, I would you did like me. 

Margaret. So would not I, for your own sake ; for 
I have many ill qualities. 100 

Balthazar. Which is one ? 

Margaret. I say my prayers aloud. 

Balthazar. I love you the better ; the hearers may 
cry Amen. 

Margaret. God match me with a good dancer ! 

Balthazar. Amen. 

Margaret. And God keep him out of my sight 
when the dance is done ! Answer, clerk. 

Balthazar. No more words; the clerk is answered. 

Ursula. I know you well enough ; you are Signior 
Antonio. m 

Antonio. At a word, I am not. 

Ursula. I know you by the waggling of your head. 

Antonio. To tell you true, I counterfeit him. 

Ursula. You could never do him so ill-well unless 
you were the very man. Here 's his dry hand up 
and down ; you are he, you are he. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 45 

Antonio. At a word, I am not. 

Ursula. Come, come, do you think I do not know 
you by your excellent wit ? can virtue hide itself ? 
Go to, mum, you are he ; graces will appear, and 
there 's an end. 122 

Beatrice. Will you not tell me who told you so ? 

Benedick. No, you shall pardon me. 

Beatrice. Nor will you not tell me who you are ? 

Benedick. Not now. 

Beatrice. That I was disdainful, and that I had 
my good wit out of the ' Hundred Merry Tales ' ; — 
well, this was Signior Benedick that said so. 

Benedick. What 's he ? 130 

Beatrice. I am sure you know him well enough. 

Benedick. Not I, believe me. 

Beatrice. Did he never make you laugh ? 

Benedick. I pray you, what is he ? 

Beatrice. Why, he is the prince's jester, a very 
dull fool ; only his gift is in devising impossible 
slanders. None but libertines delight in him, and 
the commendation is not in his wit, but in his vil- 
lany ; for he both pleases men and angers them, 
and then they laugh at him and beat him. I am 
sure he is in the fleet ; I would he had boarded me. 

Benedick. When I know the gentleman, I '11 tell 
him what you say. 143 

Beatrice. Do, do ; he '11 but break a comparison or 
two on me, which, peradventure not marked or not 
laughed at, strikes him into melancholy ; and then 



46 Much Ado about Nothing [Act 11 

there 's a partridge wing saved, for the fool will eat 
no supper that night. — [Music."] We must follow 
the leaders. 

Benedick. In every good thing. 150 

Beatrice. Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave 
them at the next turning. 

\_Dance. Then exeunt all except Don 
John, Borachio, and Claudio. 

Don John. Sure my brother is amorous on Hero 
and hath withdrawn her father to break with him 
about it. The ladies follow her and but one visor 
remains. 

Borachio. And that is Claudio ; I know him by his 
bearing. 

Don John. Are not you Signior Benedick? 

Claudio. You know me well ; I am he. 160 

Don John. Signior, you are very near my brother 
in his love. He is enamoured on Hero ; I pray you, 
dissuade him from her ; she is no equal for his birth. 
You may do the part of an honest man in it. 

Claudio. How know you he loves her ? 

Don John. I heard him swear his affection. 

Borachio. So did I too ; and he swore he would 
marry her to-night. 

Don John. Come, let us to the banquet. 

^Exeunt Don John and Borachio. 

Claudio. Thus answer I in name of Benedick, 170 
But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio. 
'T is certain so ; the prince wooes for himself. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 47 

Friendship is constant in all other things 

Save in the office and affairs of love. 

Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues ; 

Let every eye negotiate for itself 

And trust no agent, for beauty is a witch 

Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. 

This is an accident of hourly proof, 179 

Which I mistrusted not. Farewell, therefore, Hero ! 

Re-enter Benedick 

Benedick. Count Claudio ? 

Claudia. Yea, the same. 

Benedick. Come, will you go with me ? 

Claudio. Whither ? 

Benedick. Even to the next willow, about your own 
business, county. W 7 hat fashion will you wear the 
garland of ? about your neck, like an usurer's chain ? 
or under your arm, like a lieutenant's scarf? You 
must wear it one way, for the prince hath got your 
Hero. 190 

Claudio. I wish him joy of her. 

Benedick. Why, that 's spoken like an honest dro- 
vier ; so they sell bullocks. But did you think the 
prince would have served you thus ? 

Claudio. I pray you, leave me. 

Benedick. Ho ! now you strike like the blind man ; 
't was the boy that stole your meat, and you '11 beat 
the post. 

Claudio. If it will not be, I '11 leave you. [Exit. 



48 Much Ado about Nothing [Act 11 

Benedick, Alas, poor hurt fowl ! now will he creep 
into sedges. But that my Lady Beatrice should know 
me, and not know me ! The prince's fool ! Ha ? It 
may be I go under that title because I am merry. 
Yea, but so I am apt to do myself wrong ; I am not 
so reputed. It is the base, though bitter disposition 
of Beatrice that puts the world into her person, and 
so gives me out. Well, I '11 be revenged as I may. 

Re-enter Don Pedro 

Don Pedro. Now, signior, where 's the count ? did 
you see him ? 209 

Benedick. Troth, my lord, I have played the part 
of Lady Fame. I found him here as melancholy as 
a lodge in a warren. I told him, and I think I told 
him true, that your grace had got the good will of 
this young lady ; and I offered him my company to a 
willow-tree, either to make him a garland, as being 
forsaken, or to bind him up a rod, as being worthy 
to be whipped. 

Don Pedro. To be whipped ! What 's his fault ? 

Benedick. The flat transgression of a school-boy, 
who, being overjoyed with finding a bird's nest, 
shows it his companion, and he steals it. 221 

Don Pedro. Wilt thou make a trust a transgres- 
sion ? The transgression is in the stealer. 

Benedick. Yet it had not been amiss the rod had 
been made, and the garland too ; for the garland he 
might have worn himself, and the rod he might have 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 49 

bestowed on you, who, as I take it, have stolen his 
bird's nest. 

Don Pedro. I will but teach them to sing, and re- 
store them to the owner. 230 

Benedick. If their singing answer your saying, by 
my faith, you say honestly. 

Don Pedro. The Lady Beatrice hath a quarrel to 
you ; the gentleman that danced with her told her 
she is much wronged by you. 

Benedick. O, she misused me past the endurance 
of a block! an oak but with one green leaf on it 
would have answered her ; my very visor began to 
assume life and scold with her. She told me, not 
thinking I had been myself, that I was the prince's 240 
jester, that I was duller than a great thaw ; huddling 
jest upon jest with such impossible conveyance upon 
me that I stood like a man at a mark, with a whole 
army shooting at me. She. speaks poniards, and 
every word stabs, If her breath were as terrible as 
her terminations, there were no living near her ; she 
would infect to the north star. I would not marry 
her, though she were endowed with all that Adam 
had left him before he transgressed ; she would have 
made Hercules have turned spit, yea, and have cleft 250 
his club to make the fire too. Come, talk not of 
her ; you shall find her the infernal Ate in good 
apparel. I would to God some scholar would con- 
jure her ; for certainly, while she is here, a man may 
live as quiet in hell as in a sanctuary ; and people 

MUCH ADO — 4 



50 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

sin upon purpose, because they would go thither ; so, 
indeed, all disquiet, horror, and perturbation follows 
her. 

Don Pedro. Look, here she comes. 259 

Enter Claudio, Beatrice, Hero, and Leonato 

Benedick. Will your grace command me any ser- 
vice to the world's end ? I will go on the slightest 
errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to 
send me on ; I will fetch you a toothpicker now 
from the furthest inch of Asia, bring you the length 
of Prester John's foot, fetch you a hair off the great 
Cham's beard, do you any embassage to the Pig- 
mies, rather than hold three words' conference with 
this harpy. You have no employment for me ? 

Don Pedro. None, but to desire your good com- 
pany. 270 

Benedick. O God, sir, here ? s a dish I love not ; I 
cannot endure my Lady Tongue. [Exit. 

Don Pedro. Come, lady, come ; you have lost the 
heart of Signior Benedick. 

Beatrice. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile, 
and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his sin- 
gle one ; marry, once before he won it of me with 
false dice, therefore your grace may well say I have 
lost it. 279 

Don Pedro. You have put him down, lady, you 
have put him down. 

Beatrice. So I would not he should do me, my 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 51 

lord. I have brought Count Claudio, whom you 
sent me to seek. 

Don Pedro. Why, how now, count ! wherefore are 
you sad ? 

Claudio. Not sad, my lord. 

Don Pedro. How then ? sick ? 

Claudio. Neither, my lord. 289 

Beatrice. The count is neither sad, nor sick, nor 
merry, nor well ; but civil count, civil as an orange, 
and something of that jealous complexion. 

Don Pedro. V faith, lady, I think your blazon to 
be true ; though, I '11 be sworn, if he be so, his con- 
ceit is false. — Here, Claudio, I have wooed in thy 
name, and fair Hero is won ; I have broke with her 
father, and his good will obtained. Name the day 
of marriage, and God give the joy! 

Leonato. Count, take of me my daughter, and with 
her my fortunes ; his grace hath made the match, 
and all grace say Amen to it ! 301 

Beatrice. Speak, count, 't is your cue. 

Claudio. Silence is the perfectest herald of joy ; I 
were but little happy, if I could say how much. — 
Lady, as you are mine, I am yours ; I give away my- 
self for you, and dote upon the exchange. 

Beatrice. Speak, cousin ; or, if you cannot, stop 
his mouth with a kiss, and let not him speak neither. 

Don Pedro. In faith, lady, you have a merry 
heart. 310 

Beatrice. Yea, my lord ; I thank it, poor fool, it 



52 Much Ado about Nothing [Act II 

keeps on the windy side of care. My cousin tells 
him in his ear that he is in her heart. 

Claudio. And so she doth, cousin. 

Beatrice. Good Lord, for alliance ! — Thus goes 
every one to the world but I, and I am sunburnt ; I 
may sit in a corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband i 

Don Pedro. Lady Beatrice, I will get you one. 

Beatrice. I would rather have one of your father's 
getting. Hath your grace ne'er a brother like you ? 
Your father got excellent husbands, if a maid could 
come by them. 322 

Don Pedro. Will you have me, lady ? 

Beatiice. No, my lord, unless I might have an- 
other for working-days ; your grace is too costly to 
wear every day. But, I beseech your grace, pardon 
me ; I was born to speak all mirth and no matter. 

Don Pedro. Your silence most offends me, and to 
be merry best becomes you ; for, out of question, you 
were born in a merry hour. 330 

Beatrice. No, sure, my lord, my mother cried ; but 
then there was a star danced, and under that was I 
born. — Cousins, God give you joy ! 

Leonato. Niece, will you look to those things I 
told you of ? 

Beatrice. I cry you mercy, uncle. — By your 
grace's pardon. [Exit. 

Don Pedro. By my troth, a pleasant-spirited lady. 

Leonato. There 's little of the melancholy element 
in her, my lord. She is never sad but when she 






Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 53 

sleeps, and not ever sad then ; for I have heard my 
daughter say, she hath often dreamed of unhappi- 
ness and waked herself with laughing. 343 

Don Pedro. She cannot endure to hear tell of a 
husband. 

Leonato. O, by no means ; she mocks all her 
wooers out of suit. 

Don Pedro. She were an excellent wife for Bene- 
dick. 

Leonato. O Lord ! \\\\ lord, if they were but a 
week married, they would talk themselves mad. 

Don Pedro. County Claudio, when mean you to 
go to church ? 353 

Claudio. To-morrow, my lord ; time goes on 
crutches till love have all his rites. 

Leonato. Not till Monday, my dear son, which is 
hence a just seven-night ; and a time too brief, too, 
to have all things answer my mind. 

Don Pedro. Come, you shake the head at so long 
a breathing; but, I warrant thee, Claudio, the time 
shall not go dully by us. I will in the interim under- 
take one of Hercules' labours, which is to bring Sig- 
nior Benedick and the Lady Beatrice into a mountain 
of affection the one with the other. I would fain have 
it a match, and I doubt not but to fashion it, if you 
three will but minister such assistance as I shall 
give you direction. 367 

Leonato. My lord, I am for you, though it cost me 
ten nights' watchings. 



54 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

Claudio. And I, my lord. 370 

Don Pedro. And you too, gentle Hero ? 

Hero. I will do any modest office, my lord, to 
help my cousin to a good husband. 

Don Pedro. And Benedick is not the unhopefull- 
est husband that I know. Thus far can I praise 
him : he is of a noble strain, of approved valour 
and confirmed honesty. I will teach you how to 
humour your cousin, that she shall fall in love with 
Benedick ; and I, with your two helps, will so prac- 
tise on Benedick that, in despite of his quick wit and 380 
his queasy stomach, he shall fall in love with Bea- 
trice. If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an 
archer ; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only 
love-gods. Go in with me, and I will tell you my 
drift. ^Exeunt. 

Scene II. The Same 

Enter Don John and Borachio 

Don John. It is so; the Count Claudio shall marry 
the daughter of Leonato. 

Borachio. Yea, my lord ; but I can cross it. 

Don John. Any bar, any cross, any impediment 
will be medicinable to me ; I am sick in displeasure 
to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection 
ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this 
marriage ? 

Borachio. Not honestly, my lord, but so covertly 
that no dishonesty shall appear in me. ic 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 55 

Don John. Show me briefly how. 

Borachio. I think I told your lordship, a year 
since, how much I am in the favour of Margaret, 
the waiting-gentlewoman to Hero. 

Don John. I remember. 

Borachio. I can, at any unseasonable instant of 
the night, appoint her to look out at her lady's 
chamber-window. 

Don John. What life is in that, to be the death of 
this marriage ? 20 

Borachio. The poison of that lies in you to temper. 
Go you to the prince your brother ; spare not to tell 
him that he hath wronged his honour in marrying 
the renowned Claudio — whose estimation do you 
mightily hold up — to a contaminated stale, such a 
one as Hero. 

Don John. What proof shall I make of that? 

Borachio. Proof enough to misuse the prince, to 
vex Claudio, to undo Hero, and kill Leonato. Look 
you for any other issue ? 30 

D071 John. Only to despite them, I will endeavour 
anything. 

Borachio. Go, then ; find me a meet hour to draw 
Don Pedro and Count Claudio alone. Tell them 
that you know that Hero loves me ; intend a kind of 
zeal both to the prince and Claudio, as — in love of 
your brother's honour, who hath made this match, 
and his friend's reputation, who is thus like to be 
cozened with the semblance of a maid — that you 



56 Much Ado about Nothing [Act 11 

have discovered thus. They will scarcely believe 
this without trial : offer them instances, which shall 
bear no less likelihood than to see me at her chamber- 
window, hear me call Margaret Hero, hear Margaret 
term me Claudio ; and bring them to see this the 
very night before the intended wedding, — for in the 
mean time I will so fashion the matter that Hero shall 
be absent, — and there shall appear such seeming 
truth of Hero's disloyalty that jealousy shall be called 
assurance and all the preparation overthrown. 49 

Don John, Grow this to what adverse issue it can, 
I will put it in practice. Be cunning in the working 
this, and thy fee is a thousand ducats. 

Borachio. Be you constant in the accusation, and 
my cunning shall not shame me. 

Don John. I will presently go learn their day of 
marriage. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Leonato's Orchard 

Enter Benedick 

Benedick. Boy ! 

Enter Boy 

Boy. Signior ? 

Benedick. In my chamber-window lies a book; 
bring it hither to me in the orchard. 

Boy. I am here already, sir. 

Benedick. I know that ; but I would have thee 
hence, and here again. — [Exit Boy.~\ I do much 



Scene ill] Much Ado about Nothing 57 

wonder that one man, seeing how much another 
man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to 
love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow 10 
follies in others, become the argument of his own 
scorn by falling in love ; and such a man is Claudio. 
I have known when there was no music with him 
but the drum and the fife, and now had he rather 
hear the tabor and the pipe ; I have known when 
he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good 
armour, and now will he lie ten nights awake, carving 
the fashion of a new doublet. He was wont to speak 
plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a 
soldier, and now he is turned orthography ; his words 20 
are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange 
dishes. May I be so converted and see with these 
eyes ? I cannot tell ; I think not. I will not be 
sworn but love may transform me to an oyster ; but 
I '11 take my oath on it, till he have made an oyster 
of me, he shall never make me such a fool. One 
woman is fair, yet I am well ; another is wise, yet I 
am well ; another virtuous, yet I am well ; but till all 
graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come 
in my grace. Rich she shall be, that *s certain ; wise, 30 
or I '11 none ; virtuous, or I '11 never cheapen her ; 
fair, or I '11 never look on her ; mild, or come not near 
me ; noble, or not I for an angel ; of good discourse, 
an excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what 
colour it please God. — Ha ! the prince and Monsieur 
Love ! I will hide me in the arbour. [Withdraws. 



58 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

Enter Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato, followed 
by Balthazar and Musicians 

Don Pedro. Come, shall we hear this music ? 

Claudio. Yea, my good lord. How still the evening is, 
As hush'd on purpose to grace harmony ! 

Don Pedro. See you where Benedick hath hid him- 
self ? 40 

Claudio. O, very well, my lord ; the music ended, 
We '11 fit the kid-fox with a pennyworth. 

Don Pedro. Come, Balthazar, we '11 hear that song 
again. 

Balthazar. O, good my lord, tax not so bad a voice 
To slander music any more than once. 

Don Pedro. It is the witness still of excellency 
To put a strange face on his own perfection. 
I pray thee, sing, and let me woo no more. 

Balthazar. Because you talk of wooing I will sing, 
Since many a wooer doth commence his suit 50 

To her he thinks not worthy ; yet he wooes, 
Yet will he swear he loves. 

Don Pedro. Now, pray thee, come ; 

Or, if thou wilt hold longer argument, 
Do it in notes. 

Balthazar. Note this before my notes : 
There 's not a note of mine that 's worth the noting. 

Don Pedro. Why, these are very crochets that he 
speaks ; 
Note, notes, forsooth, and nothing. [Music. 



Scene Hi] Much Ado about Nothing 59 

Benedick. Now, divine air ! now is his soul rav- 
ished ! Is it not strange that sheeps' guts should 
hale souls out of men's bodies ? Well, a horn for my 
money, when all 's done. 61 

The Song 

Balthazar. Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, 

Men were deceivers ever, 
One foot in sea and one on shore, 

To one thing constant never ; 
Then sigh not so, but let them go, 

And be you blithe and bonny, 
Converting all your sounds of woe 

Into Hey nonny, nonny. 

Sing 710 more ditties, sing no moe, 70 

Of dumps so dull and heavy ; 

The f rated of men was ever so, 
Since summer first was leavy. 

Then sigh not so, etc. 

Don Pedro. By my troth, a good song. 

Balthazar. And an ill singer, my lord. 

Don Pedro. Ha, no, no, faith ; thou singest well 
enough for a shift. 7S 

Be?iedick. An he had been a dog that should have 
howled thus, they would have hanged him ; and I 
pray God his bad voice bode no mischief ! I had as 
lief have heard the night-raven, come what plague 
could have come after it. 



6o Much Ado about Nothing [Act II 

Don Pedro. Yea, marry, dost thou hear, Balthazar ? 
I pray thee, get us some excellent music ; for to- 
morrow night we would have it at the Lady Hero's 
chamber-window. 

Balthazar. The best I can, my lord. 

Don Pedro. Do so ; farewell. \_Exit Balthazar?^ 
Come hither, Leonato. What was it you told me of 
to-day, that your niece Beatrice was in love with Sig- 
nior Benedick ? 92 

Claudio. O, ay — Stalk on, stalk on, the fowl sits. 
— I did never think that lady would have loved any 
man. 

Leonato. No, nor I neither ; but most wonderful 
that she should so dote on Signior Benedick, whom she 
hath in all outward behaviours seemed ever to abhor. 

Benedick. Is 't possible ? Sits the wind in that 
corner ? 100 

Leonato. By my troth, my lord, I cannot tell what 
to think of it but that she loves him with an enraged 
affection ; it is past the infinite of thought. 

Don Pedro. May be she doth but counterfeit. 

Claudio. Faith, like enough. 

Leonato. O God, counterfeit! There was never 
counterfeit of passion came so near the life of passion 
as she discovers it. 

Don Pedro. Why, what effects of passion shows she ? 

Claudio. Bait the hook well ; this fish will bite. no 

Leonato. What effects, my lord ? She will sit you, 
you heard my daughter tell you how. 



Scene ill] Much Ado about Nothing 61 

Claudio. She did, indeed. 

Don Pedro. How, how, I pray you ? You amaze 
me ; I would have thought her spirit had been in- 
vincible against all assaults of affection. 

Leonato. I would have sworn it had, my lord, espe- 
cially against Benedick. 

Benedick. I should think this a gull, but that the 
white-bearded fellow speaks it ; knavery cannot, sure, 
hide himself in such reverence. 121 

Claudio. He hath ta'en the infection ; hold it up. 

Don Pedro. Hath she made her affection known 
to Benedick? 

Leonato. No, and swears she never will; that 's her 
torment. 

Claudio. 'T is true, indeed ; so your daughter says. 
' Shall I,' says she, ' that have so oft encountered him 
with scorn, write to him that I love him ? ' 129 

Leonato. This says she now when she is beginning 
to write to him, for she '11 be up twenty times a night, 
and there will she sit in her smock till she have writ 
a sheet of paper ; my daughter tells us all. 

Claudio. Now you talk of a sheet of paper, I re- 
member a pretty jest your daughter told us of. 

Leonato. O, when she had writ it and was reading 
it over, she found Benedick and Beatrice between the 
sheet ? 

Claudio. That. 139 

Leonato. O, she tore the letter into a thousand half- 
pence ; railed at herself, that she should be so im- 



62 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

modest to write to one that she knew would flout her. 
' I measure him/ says she, ' by my own spirit ; for I 
should flout him, if he writ to me, yea, though I love 
him, I should.' 

Claudio. Then down upon her knees she falls, 
weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, 
curses, ' O sweet Benedick ! God give me patience ! ' 

Leonato. She doth indeed, my daughter says so ; 
and the ecstasy hath so much overborne her that my 
daughter is sometime afeard she will do a desperate 
outrage to herself ; it is very true. 152 

Don Pedro. It were good that Benedick knew of it 
by some other, if she will not discover it. 

Claudio. To what end ? He would but make a 
sport of it and torment the poor lady worse. 

Don Pedro. An he should, it were an alms to 
hang him. She 's an excellent sweet lady ; and, out 
of all suspicion, she is virtuous. 

Claudio. And she is exceeding wise. 160 

Don Pedro. In every thing but in loving Bene- 
dick. 

Leonato. O, my lord, wisdom and blood combating 
in so tender a body, we have ten proofs to one that 
blood hath the victory. I am sorry for her, as I 
have just cause, being her uncle and her guardian. 

Don Pedro. I would she had bestowed this dotage 
on me; I would have daffed all other respects and 
made her half myself. I pray you, tell Benedick of 
it, and hear what he will say. 170 



Scene III] Much Ado about Nothing 63 

Leonato. Were it good, think you ? 

Claudio. Hero thinks surely she will die ; for she 
says she will die if he love her not, and she will die 
ere she make her love known, and she will die, if he 
woo her, rather than she will bate one breath of her 
accustomed crossness. 

Don Pedro. She doth well ; if she should make 
tender of her love, \ is very possible he '11 scorn it, 
for the man, as you know all, hath a contemptible 
spirit. 180 

Claudio. He is a. very proper man. 

Don Pedro. He hath indeed a good outward hap- 
piness. 

Claudio. Fore God, and, in my mind, very wise. 

Don Pedro. He doth indeed show some sparks 
that are like wit. 

Leonato. And I take him to be valiant. 

Don Ped?v. As Hector, I assure you ; and in the 
managing of quarrels you may say he is wise, for 
either he avoids them with great discretion or under- 
takes them with a most Christian-like fear. 191 

Leonato. If he do fear God, he must necessarily 
keep peace ; if he break the peace, he ought to enter 
into a quarrel with fear and trembling. 

Don Pedro. And so will he do ; for the man doth 
fear God, howsoever it seems not in him by some 
large jests he will make. Well, I am sorry for your 
niece. Shall we go seek Benedick, and tell him of 
her love ? 



64 Much Ado about Nothing [Act II 

C /audio. Never tell him, my lord ; let her wear it 
out with good counsel. 201 

Leonato. Nay, that 's impossible ; she may wear 
her heart out first. 

Don Pedro. Well, we will hear further of it by 
your daughter ; let it cool the while. I love Bene- 
dick well ; and I could wish he would modestly ex- 
amine himself, to see how much he is unworthy so 
good a lady. 

Leonato. My lord, will you walk ? dinner is ready. 

Claudio. If he do not dote on her upon this, I 
will never trust my expectation. 211 

Don Pedro. Let there be the same net spread for 
her ; and that must your daughter and her gentle- 
woman carry. The sport will be, when they hold 
one an opinion of another's dotage, and no such mat- 
ter ; that 's the scene that I would see, which will be 
merely a dumb-show. Let us send her to call him 
in to dinner. 

\_Exeunt Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato. 

Benedick. \C01ning forward} This can be no trick ; 
the conference was sadly borne. They have the truth 220 
of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady ; it 
seems her affections have their full bent. Love me ! 
why, it must be requited. I hear how I am cen- 
sured : they say I will bear myself proudly, if I per- 
ceive the love come from her ; they say too that she 
will rather die than give any sign of affection. I did 
never think to marry. I must not seem proud ; 



Scene Hi] Much Ado about Nothing 65 

happy are they that hear their detractions and can 
put them to mending. They say the lady is fair, — 
't is a truth, I can bear them witness, — and virtu- 230 
ous, — 't is so, I cannot reprove it, — and wise, but 
for loving me; — by my troth, it is no addition to 
her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will 
be horribly in love with her. I may chance have 
some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, 
because I have railed so long against marriage ; but 
doth not the appetite alter ? a man loves the meat in 
his youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall 
quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the 
brain awe a man from the career of his humour ? 240 
No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would 
die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I 
were married. — Here comes Beatrice. By this day, 
she 's a fair lady ; I do spy some marks of love in 
her. 

Enter Beatrice 

Beatrice. Against my will I am sent to bid you 
come in to dinner. 

Benedick. Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your 
pains. 249 

Beatrice. I took no more pains for those thanks 
than you take pains to thank me ; if it had been 
painful, I would not have come. 

Benedick. You take pleasure then in the mes- 
sage ? 

Beatrice. Yea, just so much as you may take 

Ml'CH ADO — 5 



66 Much Ado about Nothing [Act n 

upon a knife's point and choke a daw withal. — You 
have no stomach, signior ; fare you well. \_Exit. 

Benedick. Ha ! ' Against my will I am sent to bid 
you come in to dinner ; ' there 's a double meaning in 
that. ' I took no more pains for those thanks than 260 
you took pains to thank me ; ' that 's as much as to 
say, Any pains that I take for you is as easy as 
thanks. If I do not take pity of her, I am a villain ; 
if I do not love her, I am a Jew. I will go get her 
picture. \Exit. 







Ancient Watchmen 



ACT III 

Scene I. Leonato's Orchard 

Enter Hero, Margaret, and Ursula 

Hero. Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour ; 
There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice 
Proposing with the prince and Claudio. 
Whisper her ear and tell her, I and Ursula 
Walk in the orchard and our whole discourse 
Is all of her ; say that thou overheard'st us, 
And bid her steal into the pleached bower, 
Where honeysuckles, ripen 'd by the sun, 
Forbid the sun to enter, like favourites, 
Made proud by princes, that advance their pride 

67 



68 Much Ado about Nothing [Act m 

Against that power that bred it. There will she hide her, 
To listen our propose. This is thy office ; 
Bear thee well in it, and leave us alone. 

Margaret. I '11 make her come, I warrant you, pres- 
ently. [Exit 

Hero. Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come, 
As we do trace this alley up and down, 
Our talk must only be of Benedick. 
When I do name him let it be thy part 
To praise him more than ever man did merit ; 
My talk to thee must be how Benedick 20 

Is sick in love with Beatrice. Of this matter 
Is little Cupid's crafty arrow made 
That only wounds by hearsay. — 

Enter Beatrice, behind 

Now begin ; 
For look where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs 
Close by the ground, to hear our conference. 

Ursula. The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish 
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream 
And greedily devour the treacherous bait ; 
So angle we for Beatrice, who even now 
Is couched in the woodbine coverture. 30 

Fear you not my part of the dialogue. 

Hero. Then go we near her, that her ear lose 
nothing 
Of the false sweet bait that we lay for it. — 

[Approaching the bozuer. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 69 

No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful. 
I know her spirits are as coy and wild 
As haggards of the rock. 

Ursula. But are you sure 

That Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely ? 

Hero. So says the prince and my new-trothed lord. 

Ursula, And did they bid you tell her of it, madam ? 

Hei'o. They did entreat me to acquaint her of it ; 40 
But I persuaded them, if they lov'd Benedick, 
To wish him wrestle with affection 
And never to let Beatrice know of it. 

Ursula. Why did you so ? Doth not the gentleman 
Deserve as full as fortunate a bed 
As ever Beatrice shall couch upon ? 

Hero. O god of love ! I know he doth deserve 
As much as may be yielded to a man ; 
But Nature never fram'd a woman's heart 
Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice. 50 

Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes, 
Misprising what they look on, and her wit 
Values itself so highly that to her 
All matter else seems weak ; she cannot love, 
Nor take no shape nor project of affection, 
She is so self-endeared. 

Ursula. Sure, I think so ; 

And therefore certainly it were not good 
She knew his love, lest she make sport at it. 

Hero. Why, you speak truth. I never yet saw man, 
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featur'd, 60 



70 Much Ado about Nothing [Act in 

But she would spell him backward. If fair-fac'd, 

She would swear the gentleman should be her sister ; 

If black, why, Nature, drawing of an antic, 

Made a foul blot ; if tall, a lance ill-headed ; 

If low, an agate very vilely cut ; 

If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds ; 

If silent, why, a block moved with none. 

So turns she every man the wrong side out, 

And never gives to truth and virtue that 

Which simpleness and merit purchaseth. 70 

Ursula. Sure, sure, such carping is not commend- 
able. 

Hero. No, not to be so odd and from all fashions 
As Beatrice is, cannot be commendable ; 
But who dare tell her so ? If I should speak, 
She would mock me into air ; O, she would laugh me 
Out of myself, press me to death with wit. 
Therefore let Benedick, like cover'd fire, 
Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly ; 
It were a better death than die with mocks, 
Which is as bad as die with tickling. 80 

Ursula. Yet tell her of it ; hear what she will say. 

Hero. No ; rather I will go to Benedick 
And counsel him to fight against his passion. 
And, truly, I '11 devise some honest slanders 
To stain my cousin with ; one doth not know 
How much an ill word may empoison liking. 

Ursula. O, do not do your cousin such a wrong. 
She cannot be so much without true judgment — 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 71 

Having so swift and excellent a wit 

As she is priz'd to have — as to refuse 90 

So rare a gentleman as Signior Benedick. 

Hero. He is the only man of Italy. 
Always excepted my dear Claudio. 

Ursula. I pray you. be not angry with me. madam, 
Speaking my fancy ; Signior Benedick. 
For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour, 
Goes foremost in report through Italy. 

Hero. Indeed, he hath an excellent good name. 

Ursula. His excellence did earn it. ere he had it. 
When are you married, madam ? 100 

Hero. Why. every day. to-morrow. Come, go in ; 
I '11 show thee some attires, and have thy counsel 
Which is the best to furnish me to-morrow. 

Ursula. She ? s lim'd, I warrant you ; we have caught 
her, madam. 

Hero. If it proves so, then loving goes by haps ; 
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. 

\Exeunt Hero and Ursula. 

Beatrice. [Coming forzoara 7 ] What fire is in mine 
ears ? Can this be true ? 

Stand I condemn 'd for pride and scorn so much ? 
Contempt, farewell ! and maiden pride, adieu ! 

Xo glory lives behind the back of such. no 

And, Benedick, love on ; I will requite thee. 

Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. 
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee 

To bind our loves up in a holy band ; 



72 Much Ado about Nothing [Act m 

For others say thou dost deserve, and I- 

Believe it better than reportingly. \_Exit. 

Scene II. A Room in Leonato^s House 
Enter Don Pedro, Claudio, Benedick, and Leonato 

Don Pedro, I do but stay till your marriage be 
consummate, and then go I toward Arragon. 

Claudio, I '11 bring you thither, my lord, if you '11 
vouchsafe me. 

Don Pedro. Nay, that would be as great a soil in 
the new gloss of your marriage as to show a child 
his new coat and forbid him to wear it. I will only 
be bold with Benedick for his company, for, from the 
crown of his head to the sole of his foot, he is all 
mirth ; he hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's bow-string, io 
and the little hangman dare not shoot at him. He 
hath a heart as sound as a bell and his tongue is the 
clapper, for what his heart thinks his tongue speaks. 

Benedick. Gallants, I am not as I have been. 

Leonato. So say I ; methinks you are sadder. 

Claiidio. I hope he be in love. 

Don Pedro. Hang him, truant ! there 's no true 
drop of blood in him to be truly touched with love ; 
if he be sad, he wants money. 

Benedick. I have the toothache. 20 

Don Pedro. Draw it. 

Benedick. Hang it ! 

Claudio. You must hang it first, and draw it after- 
wards. 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 73 

Don Pedro. What ! sigh for the toothache ? 

Leonato. Where is but a humour or a worm ? 

Benedick. Well, every one can master a grief but 
he that has it. 

Claudio. Yet say I, he is in love. 29 

Don Pedro. There is no appearance of fancy in 
him, unless it be a fancy that he hath to strange dis- 
guises ; as to be a Dutchman to-day, a Frenchman 
to-morrow, or in the shape of two countries at once, 
as a German from the waist downward, all slops, and 
a Spaniard from the hip upward, no doublet. Un- 
less he have a fancy to this foolery, as it appears he 
hath, he is no fool for fancy, as you would have it 
appear he is. 

Claudio. If he be not in love with some woman, 
there is no believing old signs : he brushes his hat o' 40 
mornings ; what should that bode ? 

Don Pedro. Hath any man seen him at the barber's ? 

Claudio. No, but the barber's man hath been seen 
with him, and the old ornament of his cheek hath 
already stuffed tennis-balls. 

Leonato. Indeed, he looks younger than he did, by 
the loss of a beard. 

Don Pedro. Nay, he rubs himself with civet ; can 
you smell him out by that ? 49 

Claudio. That 's as much as to say, the sweet 
youth 's in love. 

Don Pedro. The greatest note of it is his melan- 
choly. 



74 Much Ado about Nothing [Act m 

Claudio. And when was he wont to wash his face ? 

Don Pedro. Yea, or to paint himself? for the 
which, I hear what they say of him. 

Claudio. Nay, but his jesting spirit, which is now 
crept into a lute-string and now governed by stops. 

Don Pedro. Indeed, that tells a heavy tale for him ; 
conclude, conclude he is in love. 60 

Claudio. Nay, but I know who loves him. 

Don Pedro. That would I know too ; I warrant, 
one that knows him not. 

Claudio. Yes, and his ill conditions, and, in despite 
of all, dies for him. 

Don Pedro. She shall be buried with her face up- 
wards. 

Benedick. Yet is this no charm for the toothache. — 
Old signior, walk aside with me ; I have studied eight 
or nine wise words to speak to you which these hobby- 
horses must not hear. \_Exeunt Benedick and Leonato. 

Don Pedro. For my life, to break with him about 
Beatrice. 73 

Claudio. 'T is even so. Hero and Margaret have 

by this played their parts with Beatrice ; and then 

the two bears will not bite one another when they 

meet. 

Enter Don John 

Don John. My lord and brother, God save you! 
Don Pedro. Good den, brother. 
Don John. If your leisure served, I would speak 
with you. 81 



9 o 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 75 

Don Pedro. In private ? 

Don John. If it please you ; yet Count Claudio may 
hear, for what I would speak of concerns him. 

Don Pedro. What 's the matter ? 

Don John. [ To Claudio'] Means your lordship to be 
married to-morrow ? 

Don Pedro. You know he does. 

Don John. I know not that, when he knows what 
I know. 

Claudio. If there be any impediment, I pray you 
discover it. 

Don John. You may think I love you not ; let that 
appear hereafter, and aim better at me by that I now 
will manifest. For my brother, I think he holds you 
well, and in clearness of heart hath holp to effect 
your ensuing marriage,— -surely suit ill spent and 
labour ill bestowed. 

Don Pedro. Why, what 's the matter ? 

Don John. I came hither to tell you ; and, circum- 
stances shortened, for she has been too long a talking 
of, the lady is disloyal. 
Claudio. Who ? Hero ? 

Don John. Even she ; Leonato's Hero, your Hero, 
every man's Hero. 
Claudio. Disloyal ? 

Don John. The word is too good to paint out her 
wickedness ; I could say she were worse. Think you 
of a worse title, and I will fit her to it. Wonder not 
till further warrant ; go but with me to-night, you shall 



99 



76 Much Ado about Nothing [Act III 

see her chamber-window entered, even the night 
before her wedding-day. If you love her then, to- 
morrow wed her ; but it would better fit your honour 
to change your mind. 114 

Claudio. May this be so ? 

Don Pedro. I will not think it. 

Don John. If you dare not trust that you see, con- 
fess not that you know. If you will follow rne, I will 
show you enough ; and when you have seen more and 
heard more, proceed accordingly. 120 

Claudio. If I see any thing to-night why I should 
not marry her to-morrow, in the congregation where 
I should wed, there will I shame her. 

Don Pedro. And, as I wooed for thee to obtain her, 
I will join with thee to disgrace her. 

Don John. I will disparage her no farther till you 
are my witnesses ; bear it coldly but till midnight, 
and let the issue show itself. 

Don Pedro. O day untowardly turned ! 

Claudio. O mischief strangely thwarting ! 130 

Don John. O plague right well prevented ! so will 
you say when you have seen the sequel. \_Exeunt. 

Scene III. A Street 

Enter Dogberry and Verges with the Watch 

Dogberry. Are you good men and true ? 
Verges. Yea, or else it were pity but they should 
suffer salvation, body and soul. 



Scene ill] Much Ado about Nothing 77 

Dogberry. Nay, that were a punishment too good 
for them if they should have any allegiance in them, 
being chosen for the prince's watch. t^ 

Verges. Well, give them their charge, neighbour 
Dogberry. 

Dogberry. First, who think you the most desartless 
man to be constable? 10 

1 Watch. Hugh Oatcake, sir, or George Seacole, 
for they can write and read. 

Dogberry. Come hither, neighbour Seacole. God 
hath blessed you with a good name ; to be a well- 
favoured man is the gift of fortune, but to write and 
read comes by nature. 

2 Watch. Both which, master constable, — 
Dogberry. You have ; I knew it would be your 

answer. Well, for your favour, sir, why, give God 
thanks and make no boast of it ; and for your writing 20 
and reading, let that appear w 7 hen there is no need 
of such vanity. You are thought here to be the most 
senseless and fit man for the constable of the watch ; 
therefore bear you the lantern. This is your charge : 
you shall comprehend all vagrom men ; you are to 
bid any man stand, in the prince's name. 

2 Watch. How if a' will not stand ? 

Dogberry. Why, then, take no note of him, but let 
him go ; and presently call the rest of the watch to- 
gether and thank God you are rid of a knave. 30 

Verges. If he will not stand when he is bidden, he 
is none of the prince's subjects. 



7 8 Much Ado about Nothing [Act ill 

Dogberry. True, and they are to meddle with none 
but the prince's subjects. — You shall also make no 
noise in the streets ; for, for the watch to babble and 
to talk is most tolerable and not to be endured. 

Watch. We will rather sleep than talk ; we know 
what belongs to a watch. 

Dogberry. Why, you speak like an ancient and 
most quiet watchman, for I cannot see how sleeping 
should offend ; only have a care that your bills be 
not stolen. Well, you are to call at all the ale-houses, 
and bid them that are drunk get them to bed. 43 

Watch. How if they will not ? 

Dogberry. Why, then, let them alone till they are 
sober ; if they make you not then the better answer, 
you may say they are not the men you took them for. 

Watch. Well, sir. 

Dogberry. If you meet a thief, you may suspect 
him, by virtue of your office, to be no true man ; and, 
for such kind of men, the less you meddle or make 
with them, why, the more is for your honesty. 52 

Watch. If we know him to be a thief, shall we not 
lay hands on him ? 

Dogberry. Truly, by your office, you may ; but I 
think they that touch pitch will be defiled. The 
most peaceable way for you, if you do take a thief, 
is to let him show himself what he is and steal out 
of your company. 

Verges. You have been always called a merciful 
man, partner, 61 



Scene Hi] Much Ado about Nothing 79 

Dogberry. Truly, I would not hang a dog by my 
will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him. 

Verges. If you hear a child cry in the night, you 
must call to the nurse and bid her still it. 

Watch. How if the nurse be asleep and will not 
hear us ? 

Dogberry. Why, then, depart in peace, and let the 
child wake her with crying ; for the ewe that will 
not hear her lamb when it baes will never answer a 
calf when he bleats. 71 

Verges. 'T is very true. 

Dogberry. This is the end of the charge : you, con- 
stable, are to present the prince's own person ; if you 
meet the prince in the night, you may stay him. 

Verges. Nay, by 'r lady, that I think a' cannot. 

Dogberry. Five shillings to one on 't, with any 
man that knows the statues, he may stay him : 
marry, not without the prince be willing ; for, indeed, 
the watch ought to offend no man, and it is an 
offence to stay a man against his will. 81 

Verges. By 'r lady, I think it be so. 

Dogberry. Ha, ha, ha ! Well, masters, good night. 
An there be any matter of weight chances, call up 
me. Keep your fellows' counsels and your own ; 
and good night. — Come, neighbour. 

Watch. Well, masters, we hear our charge ; let us 
go sit here upon the church-bench till two, and then 
all to bed. 89 

Dogberry. One word more, honest neighbours. I 



8o Much Ado about Nothing [Act III 

pray you, watch about Signior Leonato's door ; for, 
the wedding being there to-morrow, there is a great 
coil to-night. Adieu ; be vigitant, I beseech you. 

[Exeunt Dogberry and Verges. 

Enter Borachio and Conrade 

Borachio. What, Conrade ! 

Watch, [Aside] Peace ! stir not. 

Borachio. Conrade, I say ! 

Conrade. Here, man ; I am at thy elbow. 

Borachio. Mass, and my elbow itched; I thought 
there would a scab follow. 

Conrade. I will owe thee an answer for that ; and 
now forward with thy tale. 101 

Borachio. Stand thee close, then, under this pent- 
house, for it drizzles rain ; and I will, like a true 
drunkard, utter all to thee. 

Watch. [Aside] Some treason, masters ; yet stand 
close. 

Borachio. Therefore know I have earned of Don 
John a thousand ducats. 

Conrade. Is it possible that any villany should be 
so dear? no 

Borachio. Thou shouldst rather ask if it were 
possible any villany should be so rich ; for when 
rich villains have need of poor ones, poor ones may 
make what price they will. 

Conrade. I wonder at it. 

Borachio. That shows thou art unconfirmed. Thou 



Scene III] Much Ado about Nothing 8 1 

knowest that the fashion of a doublet, or a hat, or a 
cloak, is nothing to a man. 

Conrade. Yes, it is apparel. 

Borachio. I mean, the fashion. 120 

Conrade. Yes, the fashion is the fashion. 

Borachio. Tush ! I may as well say the fool 's 
the fool. But seest thou not what a deformed thief 
this fashion is ? 

Watch. [Aside] I know that Deformed, a' has 
been a vile thief this seven year ; a' goes up and 
down like a gentleman. I remember his name. 

Borachio. Didst thou not hear somebody ? 

Conrade. No ; 't was the vane on the house. 129 

Borachio. Seest thou not, I say, what a deformed 
thief this fashion is ? how giddily a' turns about all 
the hot bloods between fourteen and nve-and-thirty ? 
sometime fashioning them like Pharaoh's soldiers in 
the reechy painting, sometime like god Bel's priests 
in the old church-window, sometime like the shaven 
Hercules in the smirched worm-eaten tapestry. 

Conrade. All this I see ; and I see that the fash- 
ion wears out more apparel than the man. But art 
not thou thyself giddy with the fashion too, that 
thou hast shifted out of thy tale into telling me of 
the fashion ? 141 

Borachio. Not so, neither ; but know that I have 
to-night wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero's gentle- 
woman, by the name of Hero. She leans me out at 
her mistress's chamber-window, bids me a thousand 
much ado — 6 



82 Much Ado about Nothing [Act III 

times good night, — I tell this tale vilely ; — I should 
first tell thee how the prince, Claudio, and my mas- 
ter, planted and placed and possessed by my master 
Don John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable 
encounter. 150 

Conrade. And thought they Margaret was Hero ? 

Borachio. Two of them did, the prince and 
Claudio, but the devil my master knew she was 
Margaret ; and partly by his oaths, which first pos- 
sessed them, partly by the dark night, which did 
deceive them, but chiefly by my villany, which did 
confirm any slander that Don John had made, away 
went Claudio enraged, swore he would meet her, as 
he was appointed, next morning at the temple, and 
there, before the whole congregation, shame her 
with what he saw o'er-night and send her home 
again without a husband. 162 

1 Watch. We charge you, in the prince's name, 
stand ! 

2 Watch. Call up the right master constable. 
We have here recovered the most dangerous piece 
of lechery that ever was known in the common- 
wealth. 

1 Watch. And one Deformed is one of them. I 
know him ; a' wears a lock. 170 

Conrade. Masters, masters, — 

2 Watch. You '11 be made bring Deformed forth, 
I warrant you. 

Conrade. Masters, — 






Scene IV] Much Ado about Nothing 83 

1 Watch, Never speak ; we charge you, let us 
obey you to go with us. 

Borachio. We are like to prove a goodly com- 
modity, being taken up of these men's bills. 

Conrade. A commodity in question, I warrant 
you. — Come, we '11 obey you. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Hero's Apartment 
Enter Hero, Margaret, and Ursula 

Hero. Good Ursula, wake my cousin Beatrice, and 
desire her to rise. 

Ursula. I will, lady. 

Hero. And bid her come hither. 

Ursula. Well. [Exit. 

Margaret. Troth, I think your other rabato were 
better. 

Hero. No, pray thee, good Meg, I '11 wear this. 

Margaret. By my troth, 's not so good ; and I 
warrant your cousin will say so. 10 

Hero. My cousin 's a fool, and thou art another ; 
I '11 wear none but this. 

Margaret. I like the new tire within excellently, 
if the hair were a thought browner ; and your gown 's 
a most rare fashion, i' faith. I saw the Duchess of 
Milan's gown that they praise so. 

Hero. O, that exceeds, they say ! 

Margaret. By my troth, 's but a night-gown in 
respect of yours : cloth o' gold, and cuts, and laced 
with silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side 



84 Much Ado about Nothing [Act in 

sleeves, and skirts round, underborne with a bluish 
tinsel ; but for a fine, quaint, graceful, and excellent 
fashion, yours is worth ten on 't. 23 

Hero. God give me joy to wear it ! for my heart 
is exceeding heavy. 

Margaret 'T will be heavier soon by the weight of 
a man. 

Hero. Fie upon thee ! art not ashamed ? 

Margaret. Of what, lady? of speaking honourably? 
Is not marriage honourable in a beggar? Is not 
your lord honourable without marriage ? I think you 
would have me say, 'saving your reverence, a hus- 
band.' An bad thinking do not wrest true speaking, 
I'll offend nobody; is there any harm in 'the heavier 
for a husband ' ? None, I think, an it be the right hus- 
band and the right wife ; otherwise 't is light, and not 
heavy. Ask my Lady Beatrice else ; here she comes. 

Enter Beatrice 



Hero. Good morrow, coz. 

Beatrice. Good morrow, sweet Hero. 

Hero. Why, how now ? do you speak in the sick 
tune ? 

Beatrice. I am out of all other tune, methinks. 

Margaret. Clap 's into ' Light o' love ' ; that goes 
without a burden. Do you sing it, and I '11 dance it. 

Beatrice. Yea, light o' love, with your heels ! then, 
if your husband have stables enough, you '11 see he 
shall lack no barns, 



39 



Scene IV] Much Ado about Nothing 85 

Margaret. O illegitimate construction ! I scorn 
that with my heels. 

Beatrice. 'T is almost five o'clock, cousin ; \ is 
time you were ready. By my troth, I am exceeding 
ill ; heigh-ho ! 52 

Margaret. For a hawk, a horse, or a husband ? 

Beatrice. For the letter that begins them all, H. 

Margaret. Well, an you be not turned Turk, there 's 
no more sailing by the star. 

Beatrice. What means the fool, trow ? 

Margaret. Nothing I ; but God send every one 
their heart's desire ! 

Hero. These gloves the count sent me ; they are 
an excellent perfume. 61 

Beatrice. I am stuffed, cousin ; I cannot smell. 

Margaret. A maid, and stuffed ! there 's goodly 
catching of cold. 

Beatrice. O, God help me ! God help me ! how 
long have you professed apprehension ? 

Margaret. Ever since you left it. Doth not my 
wit become me rarely ? 

Beatrice. It is not seen enough, you should wear 
it in your cap. By my troth, I am sick. 70 

Margaret. Get you some of this distilled Carduus 
Benedictus, and lay it to your heart ; it is the only 
thing for a qualm. 

Hero. There thou prickest her with a thistle. 

Beatrice. Benedictus ! why Benedictus ? you have 
some moral in this Benedictus. 



86 Much Ado about Nothing [Act in 

Margaret. Moral ! no, by my troth, I have no 
moral meaning; I meant plain holy-thistle. You 
may think perchance that I think you are in love ; 
nay, by 'r lady, I am not such a fool to think what I 
list, nor I list not to think what I can, nor indeed I 
cannot think, if I would think my heart out of think- 
ing, that you are in love, or that you will be in love,, 
or that you can be in love. Yet Benedick was such 
another, and now is he become a man. He swore 
he would never marry, and yet now, in despite of his 
heart, he eats his meat without grudging ; and how 
you may be converted I know not, but methinks you 
look with your eyes as other women do. 89 

Beatrice. What pace is this that thy tongue keeps ? 

Margaret. Not a false gallop. 

Enter Ursula 

Ursula. Madam, withdraw ; the prince, the count, 
Signior Benedick, Don John, and all the gallants of 
the town, are come to fetch you to church. 

Hero. Help to dress me, good coz, good Meg, 
good Ursula. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. Another Room in Leonato'* s House 
Enter Leonato, with Dogberry and Verges 

Leonato. What would you with me, honest neigh- 
bour ? 

Dogberry. Marry, sir, I would have some con- 
fidence with you that decerns you nearly. 



Scene V] Much Ado about Nothing 87 

Leonato. Brief, I pray you ; for you see it is a 
busy time with me. 

Dogberry. Marry, this it is, sir. 
Verges. Yes, in truth it is, sir. 

Leonato. What is it, my good friends ? 9 

Dogberry. Goodman Verges, sir, speaks a little off 
the matter ; an old man, sir, and his wits are not so 
blunt as, God help, I would desire they were, but, in 
faith, honest as the skin between his brows. 

Verges. Yes, I thank God I am as honest as any 
man living that is an old man and no honester 
than I. 

Dogberry. Comparisons are odorous ; palabras, 
neighbour Verges. 

Leonato. Neighbours, you are tedious. 19 

Dogberry. It pleases your worship to say so, but 
we are the poor duke's officers ; but truly, for mine 
own part, if I were as tedious as a king, I could find 
in my heart to bestow it all of your worship. 

Leonato. All thy tediousness on me, ah ? 

Dogberry. Yea, an 't were a thousand pound more 
than 't is, for I hear as good exclamation on your 
worship as of any man in the city ; and though I be 
but a poor man, I am glad to hear it. 

Verges. And so am I. 29 

Leonato. I would fain know what you have to say. 

Verges. Marry, sir, our watch to-night, excepting 
your worship's presence, ha' ta'en a couple of as 
arrant knaves as any in Messina, 



88 Much Ado about Nothing [Act in 

Dogberry. A good old man, sir, he will be talking ; 
as they say, when the age is in, the wit is out. God 
help us! it is a world to see. — Well said, i' faith, 
neighbour Verges. Well, God 's a good man ; an 
two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind. — 
An honest soul, i' faith, sir ; by my troth he is, as 
ever broke bread ; but God is to be worshipped ; 
all men are not alike ; alas, good neighbour ! 4 i 

Leonato. Indeed, neighbour, he comes too short 
of you. 

Dogberry. Gifts that God gives. 

Leonato. I must leave you. 

Dogberry. One word, sir : our watch, sir, have in- 
deed comprehended two auspicious persons, and we 
would have them this morning examined before 
your worship. 49 

Leonato. Take their examination yourself and 
bring it me ; I am now in great haste, as it may 
appear unto you. 

Dogberry. It shall be suffigance. 

Leonato. Drink some wine ere you go. Fare you 
well. 

Enter a Messenger 

Messenger. My lord, they stay for you to give your 
daughter to her husband. 

Leonato. I '11 wait upon them ; I am ready. 

\_Exeunt Leonato and Messenger. 
Dogberry. Go, good partner, go, get you to Fran- 



Scene V] Much Ado about Nothing 89 

cis Seacole, bid him bring his pen and inkhorn to 
the gaol; we are now to examine those men. 61 

Verges. And we must do it wisely. 

Dogberry. We will spare for no wit, I warrant you ; 
here 's that shall drive some of them to a non-come. 
Only get the learned writer to set down our excom- 
munication, and meet me at the gaol. [Exeunt. 




Interior of Cathedral, Messina 



ACT IV 

Scene I. A Church 

Enter Don Pedro, Don John, Leonato, Friar Fran- 
cis, Claudio, Benedick, Hero, Beatrice, and At- 
tendants. 

Leonato. Come, Friar Francis, be brief; only to 
the plain form of marriage, and you shall recount 
their particular duties afterwards, 

9Q 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 91 

Friar Francis, You come hither, my lord, to 
marry this lady. 

Claudio. No. 

Leonato. To be married to her. — Friar, you come 
to marry her. 

Friar Francis. Lady, you come hither to be mar- 
ried to this count. 10 

Hero. I do. 

Friar Francis. If either of you know any inward 
impediment why you should not be conjoined, I 
charge you, on your souls, to utter it. 

Claudio. Know you any, Hero ? 

Hero. None, my lord. 

Friar Francis. Know you any, count ? 

Leonato. I dare make his answer, none. 

Claudio. O, what men xlare do ! what men may 
do ! what men daily do, not knowing what they 
do! 21 

Benedick. How now ! interjections ? Why, then, 
some be of laughing, as, ah, ha, he ! 

Claudio. Stand thee by, friar. — Father, by your 
leave : 
Will you with free and unconstrained soul 
Give me this maid, your daughter ? 

Leonato. As freely, son, as God did give her me. 
Claudio. And what have I to give you back, whose 
worth 
May counterpoise this rich and precious gift ? 29 

Don Pedro. Nothing, unless you render her again. 



92 Much Ado about Nothing [Act iv 

Claudio. Sweet prince, you learn me noble thankful- 
ness. 
There, Leonato, take her back again. 
Give not this rotten orange to your friend ; 
She 's but the sign and semblance of her honour. 
Behold how like a maid she blushes here ! 
O, what authority and show of truth 
Can cunning sin cover itself withal ! 
Comes not that blood as modest evidence 
To witness simple virtue ? Would you not swear, 
All you that see her, that she were a maid, 40 

By these exterior shows ? But she is none. 
She knows the heat of a luxurious bed ; 
Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty. 

Leonato. What do you mean, my lord ? 

Claudio. Not to be married, 

Not to knit my soul to an approved wanton. 

Leonato. Dear my lord, if you, in your own proof, 
Have vanquish'd the resistance of her youth, 
And made defeat of her virginity, — 

Claudio. I know what you would say. No, Leonato, 
I never tempted her with word too large, 50 

But, as a brother to his sister, show'd 
Bashful sincerity and comely love. 

Hero. And seem'd I ever otherwise to you ? 

Claudio. Out on thee ! Seeming ! I will write 
against it : 
You seem to me as Dian in her orb, 
As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown ; 



Scene I] Much Aio about Nothing 93 

But you are more intemperate in your blood 

Than Venus, or those pamper'd animals 

That rage in savage sensuality. 59 

Hero. Is my lord well, that he doth speak so wide ? 

Leonato. Sweet prince, why speak not you ? 

Don Pedro. What should I speak ? 

I stand dishonour'd that have gone about 
To link my dear friend to a common stale. 

Leonato. Are these things spoken, or do I but dream? 

Don John. Sir, they are spoken, and these things are 
true. 

Benedick. This looks not like a nuptial. 

Hero. True ! O God ! 

Claudio. Leonato, stand I here ? 
Is this the prince ? is this the prince's brother? 
Is this face Hero's ? are our eyes our own ? 69 

Leonato. All this is so ; but what of this, my lord ? 

Claudio. Let me but move one question to your 
daughter ; 
And, by that fatherly and kindly power 
That you have in her, bid her answer truly. 

Leonato. I charge thee do so, as thou art my child. 

Hero. O, God defend me ! how am I beset ! — 
What kind of catechising call you this ? 

Claudio. To make you answer truly to your name. 

Hero. Is it not Hero ? Who can blot that name 
With any just reproach ? 

Claudio. Marry, that can Hero ; 

Hero itself can blot out Hero's virtue. So 



94 Much Ado abov : Nothing [Act IV 

What man was he talk'd with you yesternight 
Out at your window betwixt twelve and one ? 
Now, if you are a maid, answer to this. 

Hero. I talk'd with no man at that hour, my lord. 

Don Pedro. Why, then are you no maiden. — Leonato, 
I am sorry you must hear ; upon mine honour, 
Myself, my brother, and this grieved count 
Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night 
Talk with a ruffian at her chamber-window, 
Who hath indeed, most like a liberal villain, 
Confess 'd the vile encounters they have had 
A thousand times in secret. 

Don John. Fie, fie! they are not to be nam'd, my 
lord, 
Not to be spoke of ; 

There is not chastity enough in language 
Without offence to utter them. — Thus, pretty lady, 
I am sorry for thy much misgovernment. 

Claudio. O Hero, what a Hero hadst thou been, 
If half thy outward graces had been plac'd 
About thy thoughts and counsels of thy heart ! ioo 

But fare thee well, most foul, most fair ! farewell, 
Thou pure impiety and impious purity ! 
For thee I '11 lock up all the gates of love, 
And on my eyelids shall conjecture hang, 
To turn all beauty into thoughts of harm, 
And never shall it more be gracious. 

Leonato. Hath no man's dagger here a point for me ? 

\_Hero swoons. 



Scene ij Much Ado about Nothing 95 

Beatrice, Why, how now, cousin ! wherefore sink you 
down? 

Don John. Come, let us go. These things, come thus 
to light, 
Smother her spirits up. no 

\Exeunt Don Pedro, Don John, and Claudio. 

Benedick. How doth the lady ? 

Beatrice. Dead, I think. — Help, uncle ! — 

Hero ! why, Hero ! — Uncle ! — Signior Benedick ! — 
Friar ! 

Leonato. O Fate ! take not away thy heavy hand. 
Death is the fairest cover for her shame 
That may be wish'd for. 

Beatrice. How now, cousin Hero ! 

Friar Francis. Have comfort, lady. 

Leonato. Dost thou look up? 

Friar Francis. Yea, wherefore should she not ? 

Leonato. Wherefore ! Why, doth not every earthly 
thing 
Cry shame upon her ? Could she here deny 120 

The story that is printed in her blood ? — 
Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes ; 
For, did I think thou wouldst not quickly die, 
Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames, 
Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches, 
Strike at thy life. Griev'd I, I had but one ? 
Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame ? 
O, one too much by thee ! Why had I one ? 
Why ever wast thou lovely in my eyes ? 



96 Much Ado about Nothing [Act IV 

Why had I not with charitable hand 130 

Took up a beggar's issue at my gates, 

Who smirched thus and mir'd with infamy, 

I might have said ' No part of it is mine ; 

This shame derives itself from unknown loins ? ' 

But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd, 

And mine that I was proud on, mine so much 

That I myself was to myself not mine, 

Valuing of her, — why, she, O, she is fallen 

Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea 

Hath drops too few to wash her clean again, 140 

And salt too little which may season give 

To her foul-tainted flesh ! 

Benedick. Sir, sir, be patient. 

For my part, I am so attir'd in wonder 
I know not what to say. 

Beatrice. O, on my soul, my cousin is belied ! 

Benedick. Lady, were you her bedfellow last night ? 

Beatrice. No, truly not ; although, until last night, 
I have this twelvemonth been her bedfellow. 

Leonato. Conhrm'd, confirm'd ! O, that is stronger 
made 
Which was before barr'd up with ribs of iron ! 150 

Would the two princes lie, and Claudio lie, 
Who lov'd her so that, speaking of her foulness, 
Wash'd it with tears ? Hence from her ! let her die. 

Friar Francis. Hear me a little ; 
For I have only silent been so long, 
And given way unto this course of fortune, 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 97 

By noting of the lady. I have mark'd 

A thousand blushing apparitions 

To start into her face, a thousand innocent shames 

In angel whiteness bear away those blushes ; 160 

And in her eye there hath appear 'd a fire 

To burn the errors that these princes hold 

Against her maiden truth. — Call me a fool ; 

Trust not my reading nor my observations, 

Which with experimental seal doth warrant 

The tenor of my book ; trust not my age, 

My reverence, calling, nor divinity, 

If this sweet lady lie not guiltless here 

Under some biting error. 

Leonato. Friar, it cannot be. 

Thou seest that all the grace that she hath left 170 

Is that she will not add to her damnation 
A sin of perjury ; she not denies it. 
Why seek'st thou then to cover with excuse 
That which appears in proper nakedness ? 

Friar Francis. Lady, what man is he you are accus'd 
of? 

Hero. They know that do accuse me ; I know none. 
If I know more of any man alive 
Than that which maiden modesty doth warrant, 
Let all my sins lack mercy ! — O my father, 
Prove you that any man with me con vers 'd 180 

At hours unmeet, or that I yesternight 
Maintain'd the change of words with any creature, 
Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death ! 

MUCH ADO — 7 



98 Much Ado about Nothing [Act IV 

Friar Francis. There is some strange misprision in 
the princes. 

Benedick. Two of them have the very bent of 
honour ; 
And if their wisdoms be misled in this, 
The practice of it lives in John the bastard, 
Whose spirits toil in frame of villanies. 

Leonato. I know not. If they speak but truth of her, 
These hands shall tear her ; if they wrong her honour, 
The proudest of them shall well hear of it. 191 

Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, 
Nor age so eat up my invention, 
Nor fortune made such havoc of my means, 
Nor my bad life reft me so much of friends, 
But they shall find, awak'd in such a kind, 
Both strength of limb and policy of mind, 
Ability in means and choice of friends, 
To quit me of them throughly. 

Friar Francis. Pause awhile, 

And let my counsel sway you in this case. 200 

Your daughter here the princes left for dead, 
Let her awhile be secretly kept in, 
And publish it that she is dead indeed ; 
Maintain a mourning ostentation, 
And on your family's old monument 
Hang mournful epitaphs and do all rites 
That appertain unto a burial. 

Leonato. What shall become of this ? what will this 
do? 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 99 

Friar Francis. Marry, this well carried shall on her 
behalf 
Change slander to remorse ; that is some good. 210 

But not for that dream I on this strange course, 
But on this travail look for greater birth. 
She dying, as it must be so maintain 'd, 
Upon the instant that she was accus'd, 
Shall be lamented, pitied, and excus'd 
Of every hearer ; for it so falls out 
That what we have we prize not to the worth 
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lack'd and lost, 
Why, then we rack the value, then we find 
The virtue that possession would not show us 220 

Whiles it was ours. So will it fare with Claudio. 
W T hen he shall hear she died upon his words, 
The idea of her life shall sweetly creep 
Into his study of imagination, 
And every lovely organ of her life 
Shall come apparell'd in more precious habit, 
More moving-delicate and full of life, 
Into the eye and prospect of his soul, 
Than when she liv'd indeed ; then shall he mourn, 
If ever love had interest in his liver, 230 

And wish he had not so accused her, 
No, though he thought his accusation true. 
Let this be so, and doubt not but success 
Will fashion the event in better shape 
Than I can lay it down in likelihood. 
But if all aim but this be levell'd false, 

LotC. 



ioo * Much Ado about Nothing [Act iv 

The supposition of the lady's death 

Will quench the wonder of her infamy ; 

And if it sort not well, you may conceal her, 

As best bents her wounded reputation, 240 

In some reclusive and religious life, 

Out of all eyes, tongues, minds, and injuries. 

Benedick. Signior Leonato, let the friar advise you ; 
And though you know my inwardness and love 
Is very much unto the prince and Claudio, 
Yet, by mine honour, I will deal in this 
As secretly and justly as your soul 
Should with your body. 

Leonato. Being that I flow in grief, 

The smallest twine may lead me. 249 

Friar Francis. 'T is well consented ; presently away, 

For to strange sores strangely they strain the cure. — 
Come, lady, die to live. This wedding-day 

Perhaps is but prolonged ; have patience and endure. 
\_Exeunt all but Benedick and Beatrice. 

Benedick. Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this 
while ? 

Beatrice. Yea, and I will weep a while longer. 

Benedick. I will not desire that. 

Beatrice. You have no reason ; I do it freely. 

Benedick. Surely I do believe your fair cousin is 
wronged. 260 

Beatrice. Ah, how much might the man deserve of 
me that would right her ! 

Benedick. Is there any way to show such friendship ? 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 101 

Beatrice. A very even way, but no such friend. 

Benedick. May a man do it ? 

Beatrice. It is a man's office, but not yours. 

Benedick. I do love nothing in the world so well 
as you ; is not that strange ? 

Beatrice. As strange as the thing I know not. It 
were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so 
well as you ; but believe me not ; and yet I lie not ; 
I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. — I am sorry 
for my cousin. 273 

Benedick. By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me. 

Beatrice. Do not swear by it, and eat it. 

Benedick. I will swear by it that you love me, 
and I will make him eat it that says I love not you. 

Beatrice. Will you not eat your word ? 

Benedick. With no sauce that can be devised to 
it. I protest I love thee. 280 

Beatrice. Why, then, God forgive me ! 

Beneaick. What offence, sweet Beatrice ? 

Beatrice. You have stayed me in a happy hour ; 
I was about to protest I loved you. 

Benedick. And do it with all thy heart. 

Beatrice. I love you with so much of my heart 
that none is left to protest. 

Benedick. Come, bid me do any thing for thee. 

Beatrice. Kill Claudio. 

Benedick. Ha! not for the wide world: 290 

Beatrice. You kill me to deny it. Farewell. 

Benedick. Tarry, sweet Beatrice. 



102 Much Ado about Nothing [Act IV 

Beatrice. I am gone, though I am here ; there is 
no love in you. — Nay, I pray you, let me go. 

Benedick. Beatrice, — 

Beatrice. In faith, I will go. 

Benedick. We '11 be friends, first. 

Beatrice. You dare easier be friends with me than 
fight with mine enemy. 

Benedick. Is Claudio thine enemy ? 300 

Beatrice. Is he not approved in the height a vil- 
lain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my 
kinswoman ? O that I were a man ! What, bear 
her in hand until they come to take hands ; and then, 
with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmiti- 
gated rancour, — O God, that I were a man ! I would 
eat his heart in the market-place. 

Benedick. Hear me, Beatrice, — 

Beatrice. Talk with a man out at a window ! A 
proper saying ! 310 

Benedick. Nay, but, Beatrice, — 

Beatrice. Sweet Hero ! She is wronged, she is 
slandered, she is undone. 

Benedick. Beat — 

Beatrice. Princes and counties ! Surely, a princely 
testimony, a goodly count, Count Comfect ; a sweet 
gallant, surely ! O that I were a man for his sake ! 
or that I had any friend would be a man for my 
sake ! But manhood is melted into courtesies, val- 
our into compliment, and men are only turned into 320 
tongue, and trim ones too ; he is now as valiant as 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 103 

Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it. — I 
cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a 
woman with grieving. 

Benedick. Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I 
love thee. 

Beatrice. Use it for my love some other way than 
swearing by it. 

Benedick. Think you in your soul the Count 
Claudio hath wronged Hero ? 330 

Beatrice. Yea, as sure as I have a thought or a 
soul. 

Benedick. Enough, I am engaged ; I will challenge 
him. I will kiss your hand, and so I leave you. By 
this hand, Claudio shall render me a dear account. 
As you hear of me, so think of me. Go, comfort your 
cousin ; I must say she is dead. And so, farewell. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II. A Prison 

Enter Dogberry, Verges, and Sexton, in gowns; 

and the Watch, with Conrade and Borachio 

Dogberry. Is our whole dissembly appeared ? 

Verges. O, a stool and a cushion for the sexton. 

Sexton. Which be the malefactors ? 

Dogberry. Marry, that am I and my partner. 

Verges. Nay, that 's certain ; we have the exhibi- 
tion to examine. 

Sexton. But which are the offenders that are to be 
examined ? let them come before master constable. 



104 Much Ado about Nothing [Act IV 

Dogberry. Yea, marry, let them come before me. — 
What is your name, friend ? 10 

Borachio. Borachio. 

Dogberry. Pray, write down, Borachio. — Yours, 
sirrah ? 

Conrade. I am a gentleman, sir, and my name is 
Conrade. 

Dogberry. Write down, master gentleman Con- 
rade. — Masters, do you serve God ? 

Conrade. 



. Yea, sir, we hope. 
Borackio. ' 

Dogberry. Write down, that they hope they serve 
God ; and write God first, for God defend but God 20 
should go before such villains ! — Masters, it is 
proved already that you are little better than false 
knaves ; and it will go near to be thought so shortly. 
How answer you for yourselves ? 

Conrade. Marry, sir, we say we are none. 

Dogberry. A marvellous witty fellow, I assure you ; 
but I will go about with him. — Come you hither, 
sirrah ; a word in your ear : sir, I say to you, it is 
thought you are false knaves. 

Borachio. Sir, I say to you we are none. 30 

Dogberry. Well, stand aside. — Fore God, they are 
both in a tale. — Have you writ down that they are 
none? 

Sexton. Master constable, you go not the way to 
examine ; you must call forth the w r atch that are their 
accusers. 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 105 

Dogberry. Yea, marry, that 's the eftest way. — 
Let the watch come forth. — Masters, I charge you, 
in the prince's name, accuse these men. 39 

1 Watch. This man said, sir, that Don John, the 
prince's brother, was a villain. 

Dogberry. Write down Prince John a villain. — 
Why, this is flat perjury, to call a prince's brother 
villain. 

Borachio. Master constable, — 

Dogberry. Pray thee, fellow, peace ; I do not like 
thy look, I promise thee. 

Sexton. W 7 hat heard you him say else ? 

2 Watch. Marry, that he had received a thousand 
ducats of Don John for accusing the Lady Hero 
wrongfully. 51 

Dogberry. Flat burglary as ever was committed. 

Verges. Yea, by the mass, that it is. 

Sexton. What else, fellow ? 

1 Watch. And that Count Claudio did mean, 
upon his words, to disgrace Hero before the whole 
assembly, and not marry her. 

Dogberry. O villain ! thou wilt be condemned into 
everlasting redemption for this. 

Sexton. W 7 hat else ? 60 

Watch. This is all. 

Sexton. And this is more, masters, than you can 
deny. Prince John is this morning secretly stolen 
away ; Hero was in this manner accused, in this very 
manner refused, and upon the grief of this suddenly 



io6 Much Ado about Nothing [Act IV 

died. — Master constable, let these men be bound, 
and brought to Leonato's ; I will go before and show 
him their examination. [Exit 

Dogberry. Come, let them be opinioned. 

Verges. Let them be in the hands — 70 

Conrade. Off, coxcomb ! 

Dogberry. God 's my life, where 's the sexton ? let 
him write down the prince's officer coxcomb. — 
Come, bind them. — Thou naughty varlet ! 

Conrade. Away ! you are an ass, you are an ass. 

Dogberry. Dost thou not suspect my place ? dost 
thou not suspect my years ? — O that he were here 
to write me down an ass ! — But, masters, remember 
that I am an ass ; though it be not written down, yet 
forget not that I am an ass. — No, thou villain, thou 80 
art full of piety, as shall be proved upon thee by 
good witness. I am a wise fellow, and, which is 
more, an officer ; and, which is more, a householder ; 
and, which is more, as pretty a piece of flesh as any 
is in Messina, and one that knows the law, go to ; 
and a rich fellow enough, go to ; and a fellow that 
hath had losses ; and one that hath two gowns and 
every thing handsome about him. — Bring him away. 
— O that I had been writ down an ass ! [Exeunt 










^iKt^^ 



Hero's Tomb 



ACT V 

Scene I. Before Leonato's House 
Enter Leoxato and Antonio 

Antonio. If you go on thus, you will kill yourself ; 
And 't is not wisdom thus to second grief 
Against yourself. 

Leonato. I pray thee, cease thy counsel, 

Which falls into mine ears as profitless 
As water in a sieve ; give not me counsel, 
Xor let no comforter delight mine ear 
But such a one whose wrongs do suit with mine. 
Bring me a father that so lov'd his child, 
Whose joy of her is overwhelm'd like mine, 

107 



108 Much Ado about Nothing [Act V 

And bid him speak of patience ; 10 

Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine, 

And let it answer every strain for strain, 

As thus for thus, and such a grief for such, 

In every lineament, branch, shape, and form. 

If such a one will smile and stroke his beard, 

Bid sorrow wag, cry ' hem ! ' when he should groan, 

Patch grief with proverbs, make misfortune drunk 

With candle-wasters, bring him yet to me, 

And I of him will gather patience. 

But there is no such man ; for, brother, men 20 

Can counsel and speak comfort to that grief 

Which they themselves not feel, but, tasting it, 

Their counsel turns to passion, which before 

Would give perceptial medicine to rage, 

Fetter strong madness in a silken thread, 

Charm ache with air and agony with words. 

No, no ; 't is all men's office to speak patience 

To those that wring under the load of sorrow, 

But no man's virtue nor sufficiency 

To be so moral when he shall endure 30 

The like himself. Therefore give me no counsel ; 

My griefs cry louder than advertisement. 

Antonio. Therein do men from children nothing differ. 

Leonato. I pray thee, peace. I will be flesh and blood ; 
For there was never yet philosopher 
That could endure the toothache patiently, 
However they have writ the style of gods 
And made a push at chance and sufferance. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 109 

Antonio. Yet bend not all the harm upon yourself ; m 
Make those that do offend you suffer too. 40 

Leonato. There thou speak'st reason ; nay, I will do so. 
My soul doth tell me Hero is belied, 
And that shall Claudio know ; so shall the prince 
And all of them that thus dishonour her. 

Anto?iio. Here comes the prince and Claudio hastily. 

Enter Don Pedro and Claudio 

Don Pedro. Good den, good den. 

Claudio. Good day to both of you. 

Leonato. Hear you, my lords, — 

Don Pedro. We have some haste, Leonato. 

Leonato. Some haste, my lord ! well, fare you well, 
my lord. 
Are you so hasty now ? well, all is one. 49 

Don Pedro. Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man. 

Antonio. If he could right himself with quarrelling, 
Some of us would lie low. 

Claudio. Who wrongs him ? 

Leonato. Marry, thou dost wrong me ; thou dissem- 
bler, thou ! — 
Nay, never lay thy hand upon thy sword ; 
I fear thee not. 

Claudio. Marry, beshrew my hand 

If it should give your age such cause of fear ; 
In faith, my hand meant nothing to my sword. 

Leonato. Tush, tush, man, never fleer and jest at me ; 
I speak not like a dotard nor a fool, 



no Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

As under privilege of age to brag 60 

What I have done being young, or what would do 

Were I not old. Know, Claudio, to thy head, 

Thou hast so wrong'd mine innocent child and me 

That I am forc'd to lay my reverence by, 

And, with grey hairs and bruise of many days, 

Do challenge thee to trial of a man. 

I say thou hast belied mine innocent child. 

Thy slander hath gone through and through her heart, 

And she lies buried with her ancestors ; 

O, in a tomb where never scandal slept, 70 

Save this of hers, fram'd by thy villany ! 

Claudio. My villany ? 

Leonato. Thine, Claudio, thine, I say. 

Don Pedro. You say not right, old man. 

Leonato. My lord, my lord, 

I '11 prove it on his body if he dare, 
Despite his nice fence and his active practice, 
His May of youth and bloom of lustihood. 

Claudio. Away ! I will not have to do with you. 

Leonato. Canst thou so daff me ? Thou hast kill'd 
my child ; 
If thou kill'st me, boy, thou shalt kill a man. 

Antonio. He shall kill two of us, and men indeed. 80 
But that 's no matter ; let him kill one first, 
Win me and wear me ; let him answer me. 
Come, follow me, boy ; come, sir boy, come, follow me. 
Sir boy, I '11 whip you from your foining fence ; 
Nay, as I am a gentleman, I will. 






Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 1 1 1 

Leonato. Brother, — 

Antonio. Content yourself. God knows I lov'd my 
niece ; 
And she is dead, slander'd to death by villains, 
That dare as well answer a man indeed 
As I dare take a serpent by the tongue, — 90 

Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops ! 

Leonato. Brother Antony, — 

Antonio. Hold you content. What, man ! I know 
them, yea, 
And what they weigh, even to the utmost scruple, — 
Scambling, out-facing, fashion-monging boys, 
That lie and cog and flout, deprave and slander, 
Go anticly, show outward hideousness, 
And speak off half a dozen dangerous words, 
How they might hurt their enemies, if they durst ; 
And this is all. 

Leonato. But, brother Antony, — 

Antonio. Come, 't is no matter ; 

Do not you meddle, let me deal in this. 101 

Don Pedro. Gentlemen both, we will not wake your 
patience. — 
My heart is sorry for your daughter's death ; 
But, on my honour, she was charg'd with nothing 
But what was true and very full of proof. 

Leonato. My lord, my lord, — 

Don Pedro. I will not hear you. 

Leonato. No? Come, brother, away! I will be 
heard. 



112 Much Ado about Nothing [Act V 

Antonio. And shall, or some of us will smart for it. 

\Exeunt Leonato and Antonio. 
Don Pedro. See, see ; here comes the man we went 
to seek. no 

Enter Benedick 

Claudio. Now, signior, what news ? 

Benedick. Good day, my lord. 

Don Pedro. Welcome, signior ; you are almost 
come to part almost a fray. 

Claudio. We had like to have had our two noses 
snapped off with two old men without teeth. 

Don Pedro. Leonato and his brother. What 
thinkest thou ? Had we fought, I doubt we should 
have been too young for them. 

Benedick. In a false quarrel there is no true val- 
our. I came to seek you both. 121 

Claudio. We have been up and down to seek 
thee ; for we are high-proof melancholy and would 
fain have it beaten away. Wilt thou use thy wit ? 

Benedick. It is in my scabbard ; shall I draw it ? 

Don Pedro. Dost thou wear thy wit by thy side ? 

Claudio. Never any did so, though very many 
have been beside their wit. I will bid thee draw, 
as we do the minstrels ; draw, to pleasure us. 

Don Pedro. As I am an honest man, he looks 
pale. — Art thou sick, or angry? 131 

Claudio. What, courage, man ! What though care 
killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill 
care. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 113 

Benedick. Sir, I shall meet your wit in the career, 
an you charge it against me. I pray you choose an- 
other subject. 

Claudio. Nay, then, give him another staff ; this 
last was broke cross. 

Don Pedro. By this light, he changes more and 
more ; I think he be angry indeed. 141 

Claudio. If he be, he knows how to turn his girdle. 

Benedick. Shall I speak a word in your ear ? 

Claudio. God bless me from a challenge ! 

Benedick. [Aside to Claudio'X You are a villain ) I 
jest not. I will make it good how you dare, with 
what you dare, and when you dare. Do me right, or 
I will protest your cowardice. You have killed a 
sweet lady, and her death shall fall heavy on you. 
Let me hear from you. 15c 

Claudio. Well, I will meet you, so I may have 
good cheer. 

Don Pedro. What, a feast, a feast ? 

Claudio. I' faith, I thank him ; he hath bid me to 
a calf's head and a capon, the which if I do not 
carve most curiously, say my knife 's naught. — Shall 
I not find a woodcock too ? 

Benedick. Sir, your wit ambles well; it goes easily. 

Don Pedro. I '11 tell thee how Beatrice praised thy 
wit the other day. I said, thou hast a fine wit. 160 
' True,' said she, ' a fine little one.' ' No,' said I, ' a 
great wit.' ' Right,' says she, 'a great gross one.' 
'Nay,' said I, 'a good wit.' 'Just,' said she, 'it 

MUCH ADO — 8 



ii4 Much Ado about Nothing [Act V 

hurts nobody. ' * Nay/ said I, 'the gentleman is 
wise.' ' Certain/ said she, ' a wise gentleman.' 
'Nay/ said I, 'he hath the tongues.' 'That I be- 
lieve/ said she, ' for he swore a thing to me on Mon- 
day night, which he forswore on Tuesday morning; 
there 's a double tongue, there 's two tongues/ Thus 
did she, an hour together, trans-shape thy particular 
virtues ; yet at last she concluded with a sigh, thou 
wast the properest man in Italy. 172 

Claudio. For the which she wept heartily and said 
she cared not. 

Don Pedro. Yea, that she did ; but yet, for all 
that, an if she did not hate him deadly, she would 
love him dearly. The old man's daughter told 
us all. 

Claudio. All, all ; and, moreover, God saw him 
when he was hid in the garden. 

Don Pedro. But when shall we set the savage 
bull's horns on the sensible Benedick's head ? 182 

Claudio. Yea, and text underneath, ' Here dwells 
Benedick the married man ? ' 

Benedick. Fare you well, boy; you know my 
mind. I will leave you now to your gossip-like 
humour ; you break jests as braggarts do their 
blades, which, God be thanked, hurt not. — My lord, 
for your many courtesies I thank you ; I must dis- 
continue your company. Your brother the bastard 190 
is fled from Messina ; you have among you killed a 
sweet and innocent lady. For my Lord Lackbeard 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 115 

there, he and I shall meet ; and till then peace be 
with him. [Exit. 

Don Pedro. He is in earnest. 

Claudio. In most profound earnest; and, I '11 war- 
rant you, for the love of Beatrice. 

Don Pedro. And hath challenged thee. 

Claudio. Most sincerely. 199 

Don Pedro. What a pretty thing man is when he 
goes in his doublet and hose and leaves off his wit ! 

Claudio. He is then a giant to an ape ; but then 
is an ape a doctor to such a man. 

Don Pedro. But, soft you, let me see ; pluck up, 
my heart, and be sad. Did he not say my brother 
was fled ? 

Enter Dogberry, Verges, and the Watch, with Con- 
rade and Borachio 

Dogberry. Come you, sir ; if justice cannot tame 
you, she shall ne'er weigh more reasons in her bal- 
ance. Nay, an you be a cursing hypocrite once, you 
must be looked to. 210 

Don Pedro. How now ? two of my brother's men 
bound ! Borachio one ! 

Claudio. Hearken after their offence, my lord. 

Don Pedro. Officers, what offence have these men 
done? 

Dogberry. Marry, sir, they have committed false 
report ; moreover, they have spoken untruths ; sec- 
ondarily, they are slanders ; sixth and lastly, they 



n6 Much Ado about Nothing [Act V 

have belied a lady ; thirdly, they have verified un- 
just things ; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves. 

Don Pedro. First, I ask thee what they have 
done ; thirdly, I ask thee what 's their offence ; sixth 
and lastly, why they are committed ; and, to con- 
clude, what you lay to their charge. 224 

Claudio. Rightly reasoned, and in his own divi- 
sion ; and, by my troth, there 's one meaning well 
suited. 

Don Pedro. Who have you offended, masters, that 
you are thus bound to your answer? this learned 
constable is too cunning to be understood ; what 's 
your offence ? 231 

Borachio. Sweet prince, let me go no farther to 
mine answer; do you hear me, and let this count 
kill me. I have deceived even your very eyes ; what 
your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools 
have brought to light, who in the night overheard me 
confessing to this man how Don John your brother 
incensed me to slander the Lady Hero, how you were 
brought into the orchard and saw me court Margaret 
in Hero's garments, how you disgraced her when 
you should marry her. My villany they have upon 
record, which I had rather seal with my death than 
repeat over to my shame. The lady is dead upon 
mine and my master's false accusation ; and, briefly, 
I desire nothing but the reward of a villain. 245 

Don Pedro. Runs not this speech like iron through 
your blood ? 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 117 

Claudio. I have drunk poison whiles he utter 'd it. 

Don Pedro. But did my brother set thee on to this ? 

Borachio. Yea, and paid me richly for the practice 
of it. 

Don Pedro. He is compos'd and fram'd of treachery; 
And fled he is upon this villany. 251 

Clandio. Sweet Hero ! now thy image doth appear 
In the rare semblance that I lov'd it first. 

Dogberry. Come, bring away the plaintiffs. By 
this time our sexton hath reformed Signior Leonato 
of the matter ; and, masters, do not forget to specify, 
when time and place shall serve, that I am an ass. 

Verges. Here, here comes master Signior Leonato, 
and the sexton too. 

Re-enter Leonato and Antonio, with the Sexton 

Leonato. Which is the villain ? let me see his eyes, 
That when I note another man like him 261 

I may avoid him ; which of these is he ? 

Borachio. If you would know your wronger, look on 
me. 

Leonato. Art thou the slave that with thy breath 
hast kill'd 
Mine innocent child ? 

Borachio. Yea, even I alone. 

Leonato. Not, not so, villain ; thou behest thyself. 
Here stand a pair of honourable men ; 
A third is fled, that had a hand in it. — 
I thank you, princes, for my daughter's death. 



1 1 8 Much Ado about Nothing [Act V 

Record it with your high and worthy deeds ; 270 

'T was bravely done, if you bethink you of it. 

Claudio. I know not how to pray your patience, 
Yet I must speak. Choose your revenge yourself ; 
Impose me to what penance your invention 
Can lay upon my sin ; yet sinn'd I not 
But in mistaking. 

Don Pedro. By my soul, nor I ; 

And yet, to satisfy this good old man, 
I would bend under any heavy weight 
That he '11 enjoin me to. 

Leonato. I cannot bid you bid my daughter live, 
That were impossible ; but, I pray you both, 281 

Possess the people in Messina here 
How innocent she died ; and if your love 
Can labour aught in sad invention, 
Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb 
And sing it to her bones, sing it to-night. — 
To-morrow morning come you to my house, 
And since you could not be my son-in-law, 
Be yet my nephew. My brother hath a daughter, 
Almost the copy of my child that 's dead, 290 

And she alone is heir to both of us ; 
Give her the right you should have given her cousin, 
And so dies my revenge. 

Claudio. O noble sir, 

Your over-kindness doth wring tears from me ! 
I do embrace your offer ; and dispose 
For henceforth of poor Claudio. 



Scene I] Much Ado about Nothing 119 

Leonato. To-morrow then I will expect your coming ; 
To-night I take my leave. — This naughty man 
Shall face to face be brought to Margaret, 
Who I believe was pack'd in all this wrong, 3 00 

Hir'd to it by your brother. 

Borachio. No, by my soul, she was not, 

Nor knew not what she did when she spoke to me, 
But always hath been just and virtuous 
In any thing that I do know by her. 

Dogberry. Moreover, sir, which indeed is not 
under white and black, this plaintiff here, the of- 
fender, did call me ass ; I beseech you, let it be re- 
membered in his punishment. And also, the watch 
heard them talk of one Deformed ; they say he wears 
a key in his ear and a lock hanging by it, and bor- 
rows money in God's name, the which he hath used 
so long and never paid that now men grow hard- 
hearted and will lend nothing for God's sake. Pray 
you, examine him upon that point. 314 

Leonato. I thank thee for thy care and honest 
pains. 

Dogberry. Your worship speaks like a most thank- 
ful and reverend youth ; and I praise God for you. 

Leonato. There 's for thy pains. 

Dogberry. God save the foundation ! 

Leonato. Go, I discharge thee of thy prisoner, and 
I thank thee. 322 

Dogberry. I leave an arrant knave with your 
worship, which I beseech your worship to correct 



120 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

yourself, for the example of others. God keep your 
worship ! I wish your worship well ; God restore 
you to health ! I humbly give you leave to depart ; 
and if a merry meeting may be wished, God prohibit 
it ! — Come, neighbour. 

[Exeunt Dogberry and Verges. 
Leonato. Until to-morrow morning, lords, farewell. 
Antonio. Farewell, my lords ; we look for you to- 
morrow. 331 
Don Pedro. We will not fail. 
Claudio. To-night I '11 mourn with Hero. 
Leonato. [To the watcK\ Bring you these fellows 
on. — 
We '11 talk with Margaret, 
How her acquaintance grew with this lewd fellow, 

[Exeunt, severally. 

Scene II. Leonato' s Orchard 
Enter Benedick and Margaret, meeting 

Benedick. Pray thee, sweet Mistress Margaret, de- 
serve well at my hands by helping me to the speech 
of Beatrice. 

Margaret. Will you then write me a sonnet in 
praise of my beauty ? 

Benedick. In so high a style, Margaret, that no 
man living shall come over it; for, in most comely 
truth, thou deservest it. 

Margaret. To have no man come over me ! why, 
shall I always keep below stairs ? 10 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 121 

Benedick. Thy wit is as quick as the greyhound's 
mouth ; it catches. 

Margaret. And yours as blunt as the fencer's 
foils, which hit but hurt not. 

Benedick. A most manly wit, Margaret, it will not 
hurt a woman ; and so, I pray thee, call Beatrice. I 
give thee the bucklers. 

Margaret. Give us the swords ; we have bucklers 
of our own. 19 

Benedick. If you use them, Margaret, you must 
put in the pikes with a vice ; and they are danger- 
ous weapons for maids. 

Margaret. Well, I will call Beatrice to you, who 
I think hath legs. 

Benedick. And therefore will come. \_Exit Margaret. 
[Sings] The god of love, 

2'hat sits above, 
And knows me, and knows me, 
How pitiful I deserve ', — 29 

I mean in singing ; but in loving, Leander the good 
swimmer, Troilus the first employer of panders, and 
a whole bookful of these quondam carpet-mongers, 
whose names yet run smoothly in the even road of a 
blank verse, why, they were never so truly turned 
over and over as my poor self in love. Marry, I 
cannot show it in rhyme ; I have tried. I can find 
out no rhyme to 'lady' but 'baby,' an innocent 
rhyme; for 'scorn,' 'horn,' a hard rhyme; for 
'school,' 'fool,' a babbling rhyme; very ominous 



122 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

endings. No, I was not born under a rhyming 
planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms. — 41 

Enter Beatrice 

Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called 
thee? 

Beatrice. Yea, signior, and depart when you bid 
me. 

Benedick. O, stay but till then ! 

Beatrice. i Then ' is spoken ; fare you well now. 
And yet, ere I go, let me go with that I came, which 
is with knowing what hath passed between you and 
Claudio. 50 

Benedick. Only foul words ; and thereupon I will 
kiss thee. 

Beatrice. Foul words is but foul wind, and foul 
wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome ; 
therefore I will depart unkissed. 

Benedick. Thou hast frighted the word out of his 
right sense, so forcible is thy wit. But I must tell 
thee plainly, Claudio undergoes my challenge ; and 
either I must shortly hear from him or I will subscribe 
him a coward. And, I pray thee now, tell me for 
which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love 
with me ? 62 

Beatrice. For them all together, which maintained 
so politic a state of evil that they will not admit any 
good part to intermingle with them. But for which 
of my good parts did you first suffer love for me ? 



Scene II] Much Ado about Nothing 123 

Benedick. Suffer love ! a good epithet ! I do suffer 
love indeed, for I love thee against my will. 

Beatrice. In spite of your heart, I think ; alas, poor 
heart ! If you spite it for my sake, I will spite it 
for yours ; for I will never love that which my friend 
hates. 72 

Benedick. Thou and I are too wise to woo peace- 
ably. 

Beatrice. It appears not in this confession ; there 
's not one wise man among twenty that will praise 
himself. 

Benedick. An old, an old instance, Beatrice, that 
lived in the time of good neighbours. If a man do 
not erect in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall 
live no longer in monument than the bell rings and 
the widow weeps. 82 

Beatrice. And how long is that, think you ? 

Benedick. Question : why, an hour in clamour and 
a quarter in rheum ; therefore is it most expedient 
for the wise, if Don Worm, his conscience, find no 
impediment to the contrary, to be the trumpet of his 
own virtues, as I am to myself. So much for prais- 
ing myself, who, I myself will bear witness, is praise- 
worthy ; and now tell me, how doth your cousin ? 90 

Beatrice. Very ill. 

Benedick. And how do you ? 

Beatrice. Very ill too. 

Benedick. Serve God, love me, and mend. There 
will I leave you too, for here comes one in haste. 



124 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

Enter Ursula 

Ursula, Madam, you must come to your uncle. 
Yonder 's old coil at home : it is proved my Lady 
Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and 
Claudio mightily abused ; and Don John is the au- 
thor of all, who is fled and gone. Will you come 
presently ? 101 

Beatrice. Will you go hear this news, signior ? 

Benedick. I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, 
and be buried in thy eyes ; and moreover I will go 
with thee to thy uncle's. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. A Church 

Enter Don Pedro, Claudio, and three or four with 

tapers 

Claudio. Is this the monument of Leonato ? 

A Lord. It is, my lord. 

Claudio. [Reading out of a scroll] 

Done to death by slanderous tongues 

Was the Hero that here lies ; 
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs, 

Gives her fame which never dies. 
So the life that died with shame 
Lives in death with glorious fame . 

Hang thou there upon the tomb, [Affixing it. 
Praising her when I am dumb. — 10 

Now, music, sound, and sing your solemn hymn. 



Scene Hi] Much Ado about Nothing 125 



Song 

Pardon, goddess of the night, 
Those that slew thy virgin knight, 
For the which, with songs of woe, ■ 
Round about her tomb they go. 

Midnight, assist our moan ; 

Help us to sigh and groait, 
Heavily, heavily. 

Graves, yawn and yield your dead, 

Till death be uttered, 
Heavily, heavily. 



Claudio. Now, unto thy bones good night 1 

Yearly will I do this rite. 
Don Pedro, Good morrow, masters ; put your torches 

out. 
The wolves have prey'd ; and look, the gentle day, 
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about 

Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey. 
Thanks to you all, and leave us ; fare you well. 

Claudio. Good morrow, masters ; each his several 

way. 
Don Pedro. Come, let us hence, and put on other 
weeds ; 30 

And then to Leonato's we will go. 
Claudio. And Hymen now with luckier issue speed 's 
Than this for whom we render'd up this woe ! 

\Exeunt. 



126 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

Scene IV. A Room in Leonato' s House 

Enter Leonato, Antonio, Benedick, Beatrice, Mar- 
garet, Ursula, Friar Francis, and Hero 

Friar Francis. Did I not tell you she was innocent ? 

Leonato. So are the prince and Claudio, who accus'd 
her 
Upon the error that you heard debated ; 
But Margaret was in some fault for this, 
Although against her will, as it appears 
In the true course of all the question. 

Antonio. Well, I am glad that all things sort so welL 

Benedick. And so am I, being else by faith enforc'd 
To call young Claudio to a reckoning for it. 

Leonato. Well, daughter, and you gentlewomen all, 
Withdraw into a chamber by yourselves, n 

And when I send for you, come hither mask'd. — 

\_Exeunt Ladies. 
The prince and Claudio promised by this hour 
To visit me. — You know your office, brother ; 
You must be father to your brother's daughter 
And give her to young Claudio. 

Antonio. Which I will do with confirm'd counte- 
nance. 

Benedick. Friar, I must entreat your pains, I think. 

Friar Francis. To do what, signior ? 

Benedick. To bind me, or undo me ; one of them. — 20 
Signior Leonato, truth it is, good signior, 
Your niece regards me with an eye of favour. 



Scene IV] Much Ado about Nothing 127 

Leonato. That eye my daughter lent her ; 't is most 
true. 

Benedick. And I do with an eye of love requite her. 

Leonato. The sight whereof I think you had from 
me, 
From Claudio, and the prince ; but what 's your will ? 

Benedick. Your answer, sir, is enigmatical ; 
But, for my will, my will is your good will 
May stand with ours, this day to be conjoin'd 
In the state of honourable marriage, — 30 

In which, good friar, I shall desire your help. 

Leonato. My heart is with your liking. 

Friar Francis. And my help. — 

Here comes the prince and Claudio. 

Enter Don Pedro and Claudio, and two or three 

othei's 

Don Pedro. Good morrow to this fair assembly. 
Leonato. Good morrow, prince ; — good morrow, 
Claudio. 
We here attend you. Are you yet determin'd 
To-day to marry with my brother's daughter ? 

Claudio. I '11 hold my mind, were she an Ethiope. 
Leonato. Call her forth, brother ; here 's the friar 
ready. \Exit Antonio. 

Don Pedro. Good morrow, Benedick. Why, what 's 
the matter, 40 

That you have such a February face, 
So full of frost, of storm, and cloudiness ? 



128 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

Claudio. I think he thinks upon the savage bull. — 
Tush, fear not, man ; we '11 tip thy horns with gold, 
And all Europa shall rejoice at thee, 
As once Europa did at lusty Jove 
When he would play the noble beast in love. 

Benedick. Bull Jove, sir, had an amiable low ; 
And some such strange bull leap'd your father's cow, 
And got a calf in that same noble feat 50 

Much like to you, for you have just his bleat. 

Claudio. For this I owe you ; here comes other 
reckonings. — 

Re-enter Antonio, with the Ladies masked 

Which is the lady I must seize upon? 

Antonio. This same is she, and I do give you her. 

Claudio. Why, then she 's mine. — Sweet, let me see 
your face. 

Leonato. No, that you shall not, till you take her 
hand 
Before this friar and swear to marry her. 

Claudio. Give me your hand ; before this holy friar, 
I am your husband, if you like of me. 

Hero. And when I liv'd I was your other wife ; 60 

[Unmasking. 
And when you lov'd you were my other husband. 

Claudio. Another Hero ! 

Hero. Nothing certainer ; 

One Hero died defiFd, but I do live, 
And, surely as I live, I am a maid. 



Scene IV] Much Ado about Nothing 129 

Don Ped?'o. The former Hero ! Hero that is dead ! 
Leonato. She died, my lord, but whiles her slander 

liv'd. 
Friar Francis. All this amazement can I qualify, 
When after that the holy rites are ended 
I '11 tell you largely of fair Hero's death. 
Meantime let wonder seem familiar, 70 

And to the chapel let us presently. 

Benedick. Soft and fair, friar. — Which is Beatrice? 
Beatrice. [Unmasking] I answer to that name. What 

is your will ? 
Benedick. Do not you love me ? 

Beatrice. Why, no ; no more than reason. 

Benedick. Why, then your uncle and the prince and 
Claudio 
Have been deceiv'd ; they swore you did. 
Beatrice. Do not you love me ? 

Benedick. Troth, no ; no more than reason. 

Beatrice. Why, then my cousin, Margaret, and Ursula 
Are much deceiv'd ; for they did swear you did. 

Be?iedick. They swore that you were almost sick 

for me. 80 

Beatrice. They swore that you were well-nigh dead 

for me. 
Benedick. 'T is no such matter. — Then you do not 

love me ? 
Beatrice. No, truly, but in friendly recompense. 
Leonato. Come, cousin, I am sure you love the gen- 
tleman. 

MUCH ADO — 9 



130 Much Ado about Nothing [Act v 

Claudio. And I '11 be sworn upon 't that he loves her ; 
For here 's a paper written in his hand, 
A halting sonnet of his own pure brain, 
Fashion'd to Beatrice. 

Hero. And here 's another. 

Writ in my cousin's hand, stolen from her pocket, 
Containing her affection unto Benedick. 90 

Benedick. A miracle ! here 's our own hands 
against our hearts. — Come, I will have thee; but, 
by this light, I take thee for pity. 

Beatrice. I would not deny you ; but, by this good 
day, I yield upon great persuasion, and partly to save 
your life, for I was told you were in a consumption. 

Benedick. Peace ! I will stop your mouth. 

[Kissing her. 

Don Pedro. How dost thou, Benedick, the mar- 
ried man ? 99 

Benedick. I '11 tell thee what, prince, a college of 
wit-crackers cannot flout me out of my humour. 
Dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram ? 
No ; if a man will be beaten with brains, he shall 
wear nothing handsome about him. In brief, since 
I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any 
purpose that the world can say against it ; and there- 
fore never flout at me for what I have said against it, 
for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion. 
— For thy part, Claudio, I did think to have beaten 
thee ; but in that thou art like to be my kinsman, 
live unbruised and love my cousin. m 



Scene IV] Much Ado about Nothing 131 

Claudio. I had well hoped thou wouldst have de- 
nied Beatrice, that I might have cudgelled thee out 
of thy single life, to make thee a double-dealer, which, 
out of question, thou wilt be if my cousin do not look 
exceeding narrowly to thee. 

Benedick. Come, come, we are friends ; let 's have 
a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten 
our hearts and our wives' heels. 

Leonato. We '11 have dancing afterward. 120 

Be?iedick. First, of my word ; therefore play, mu- 
sic. — Prince, thou art sad ; get thee a wife, get thee 
a wife. There is no staff more reverend than one 
tipped with horn. 

Enter a Messenger 

Messenger. My lord, your brother John is ta'en in 
flight, 
And brought with armed men back to Messina. 

Benedick. Think not on him till to-morrow ; I '11 
devise thee brave punishments for him. — Strike up, 
pipers. [Dance. 

\Exeunt. 



NOTES 




Cupids forging Arrows 



NOTES 

Introduction 

The Metre of the Play. — It should be understood at the 
outset that metre, or the mechanism of verse, is something alto- 
gether distinct from the music of verse. The one is matter of rule, 
the other of taste and feeling. Music is not an absolute necessity 
of verse ; the metrical form is a necessity, being that which consti- 
tutes the verse. 

The plays of Shakespeare (with the exception of rhymed pas- 
sages, and of occasional songs and interludes) are all in unrhymed 
or blank verse ; and the normal form of this blank verse is illus- 
trated by i. I. 295 of the present play : " No child but Hero ; she 's 
his only heir." 

This line, it will be seen, consists of ten syllables, with the even 
syllables (2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th) accented, the odd syllables 
(ist, 3d, etc.) being unaccented. Theoretically, it is made up of 
five feet of two syllables each, with the accent on the second sylla- 
ble. Such a foot is called an iambus (plural, iambuses, or the 
Latin iambi), and the form of verse is called iambic. 

J 35 



J 36 



Notes 



This fundamental law of Shakespeare's verse is subject to certain 
modifications, the most important of which are as follows : — 

1. After the tenth syllable an unaccented syllable (or even two 
such syllables) may be added, forming what is sometimes called a 
female line; as in i. I. 297: " When you went onward on this 
ended action." The rhythm is complete with the first syllable of 
action, the second being an extra eleventh syllable. In ii. 1. 171 
(" But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio ") we have two 
extra syllables, the rhythm being complete with the first syllable 
of Claudio. 

2. The accent in any part of the verse may be shifted from an 
even to an odd syllable ; as in i. 1. 293: "Any hard lesson that 
may do thee good ; " and 305 : " Saying I lik'd her ere I went to 
wars." In both lines the accent is shifted from the second to the 
first syllable. This change occurs very rarely in the tenth syllable, 
and seldom in the fourth ; and it is not allowable in two successive 
accented syllables. 

3. An extra unaccented syllable may occur in any part of the 
line; as in i. I. 324 and 325. In 324 the second syllable of pris- 
oner is superfluous, and in 325 the second syllable of amorous. 
In iii. 1. 24, the second syllable of Beatrice is superfluous, as often. 

4. Any unaccented syllable, occurring in an even place immedi- 
ately before or after an even syllable which is properly accented, is 
reckoned as accented for the purposes of the verse ; as, for in- 
stance, in i. 1. 303, 306, and 328. In 303 the last syllable of 
delicate, and in 306 and 328 that of presently, are metrically 
equivalent to accented syllables ; and so with the third syllable of 
minister in 312 and the fourth of necessity in 317. 

5. In many instances in Shakespeare words must be lengthened 
in order to fill out the rhythm : — 

(a) In a large class of words in which e or i is followed by 
another vowel, the e or i is made a separate syllable ; as ocean, 
gracious (see iv. 1. 106), opinion, soldier, patience (see v. 1. 10, 19, 
and 27 1), partial, marriage, etc. Fur instance, in this play, i. I. 



Notes 137 



313 ("That know love's grief by his complexion") appears to 
have only nine syllables, but complexion is a quadrisyllable ; and 
the same is true of familiar in v. 4. 70 : " Meantime let wonder 
seem familiar." This lengthening occurs most frequently at the 
end of the line. 

(b) Many monosyllables ending in r 9 re, rs, res, preceded by a 
long vowel or diphthong, are often made dissyllables ; as fare, fear, 
dear, fire, hair, hour, more, your, etc. If the word is repeated in 
a verse it is often both monosyllable and dissyllable ; as in M, of V. 
hi. 2. 20 : " And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so," where 
either yours (preferably the first) is a dissyllable, the other being 
a monosyllable. Iny. C, iii. 1. 172 : "As fire drives out fire, so 
pity, pity," the first fire is a dissyllable. 

(c) Words containing / or r, preceded by another consonant, 
are often pronounced as if a vowel came between or after the 
consonants; as in T. of S. ii. I. 158 : "While she did call me 
rascal fiddler" [fiddl(e)er] ; All *s Well, iii. 5. 43: "If you will 
tarry, holy pilgrim " [pilg(e)rim] ; C. of E. v. 1. 360 : "These are 
the parents of these children " (childeren, the original form of the 
word) ; W. T, iv. 4. 76 : "Grace and remembrance [rememb(e) 
ranee] be to you both ! " etc. In the present play assembly in v. 
4. 34 is a quadrisyllable, and tickling in iii. 1. 80 is a trisyl- 
lable. 

(d) Monosyllabic exclamations {ay, O, yea, nay, hail, etc.) and 
monosyllables otherwise emphasized are similarly lengthened ; also 
certain longer words; as commandement in M. of V. iv. 1. 451 ; 
safety (trisyllable) in Ham. i. 3. 21 ; business (trisyllable, as origi- 
nally pronounced) in J. C. iv. 1. 22: "To groan and sweat under 
the business " (so in several other passages) ; and other words 
mentioned in the notes to the plays in which they occur. 

6. Words are also contracted for metrical reasons, like plurals 
and possessives ending in a sibilant, as balance, horse (for horses 
and horse 'j), princess, sense, marriage (plural and possessive), 
image, etc. So with many adjectives in the superlative (like 



138 Notes 

pleasant* st in iii. I. 26, sternest, kindest, secret st, etc.), and certain 
other words. 

7. The accent of words is also varied in many instances for met- 
rical reasons. Thus we find both revenue and revenue in the first 
scene of M. N. D. (lines 6 and 158), cdnfine (noun) and con- 
fine, mdture and mature, pursue and pursue, distinct and distinct, 
etc. In iii. I. 71 and 73 of the present play we find commendable, 
but commendable in M. of V. i, I. ill. 

These instances of variable accent must not be confounded with 
those in which words were uniformly accented differently in the 
time of Shakespeare ; like aspect, i?np6rtune, sepulchre (verb), 
per sever (never persevere), perseverance, rheumatic, etc. 

8. Alexandrines, or verses of twelve syllables, with six accents, 
occur here and there in the plays. They must not be confounded 
with female lines with two extra syllables (see on 1 above) or with 
other lines in which two extra unaccented syllables may occur. 

9. Incomplete verses, of one or more syllables, are scattered 
through the plays. See iv. 1. 67, 92, 94, no, 116, 117, etc. 

10. Doggerel measure is used in the very earliest comedies 
(Z. Z. Z. and C. of E. in particular) in the mouths of comic 
characters, but nowhere else in those plays, and never anywhere 
in plays written after 1598. 

11. Rhyme occurs frequently in the early plays, but diminishes 
with comparative regularity from that period until the latest. Thus, 
in Z. Z. Z. there are about 1100 rhyming verses (about one-third 
of the whole number), in the M. N. D. about 900, in Rich. II. and 
R. and J. about 500 each, while in Cor. and A. and C. there are 
only about 40 each, in Temp, only two, and in W. T. none at 
all, except in the chorus introducing act iv. Songs, interludes, 
and other matter not in ten-syllable measure are not included in 
this enumeration. In the present play, out of some 630 ten-sylla- 
ble verses, only about forty are in rhyme. 

Alternate rhymes are found only in the plays written before 
1599 or 1600. In Z. Z. Z. there are 242 lines of them, in M. N. D. 



Notes 139 

96, and in C. of E. 64. For examples in the present play, see iii. 1. 
107-114, iv. I. 249-252, and v. 3. 24-33. 

Rhymed couplets, or "rhyme-tags," are often found at the end of 
scenes; as in 3 of the 17 scenes of the present play, which is 
largely in prose. In Ham. 14 out of 20 scenes, and in Macb. 21 
out of 28, have such " tags ; " but in the latest plays they are 
not so frequent. In Temp., for instance, there is but one, and in 
W. T. none. 

12. In this edition of Shakespeare, the final -ed of past tenses 
and participles in verse is printed -d when the word is to be pro- 
nounced in the ordinary way ; as in looked, line 298, and li&d, 
line 299, of the first scene. But when the metre requires that 
the -ed be made a separate syllable, the e is retained ; as in 
pleached, iii. I. 7, and couched, iii. 1. 30, both words being dis- 
syllables. The only variation from this rule is in verbs like cry, 
die, sue, etc., the -ed of which is very rarely, if ever, made a 
separate syllable. 

Shakespeare's Use of Verse and Prose in the Plays. — 
This is a subject to which the Critics have given very little atten- 
tion, but it is an interesting study. In Much Ado we find 
scenes entirely in verse or in prose, and others in which the 
two are mixed. In general, we may say that verse is used for what 
is distinctly poetical, and prose for what is not poetical. The dis- 
tinction, however, is not so clearly marked in the earlier as in the 
later plays. The second scene of M. of V., for instance, is in prose, 
because Portia and Nerissa are talking of the suitors in a familiar 
and playful way ; but in T. G. of V., where Julia and Lucetta are 
discussing the suitors of the former in much the same fashion, the 
scene is in verse. Dowden, commenting on Rich. II., remarks: 
" Had Shakespeare written the play a few years later, we may be 
certain that the gardener and his servants (iii. 4) would not have 
uttered stately speeches in verse, but would have spoken homely 
prose, and that humour would have mingled with the pathos of the 
scene. The same remark may be made with reference to the sub- 



140 Notes 



sequent scene (v. 5) in which his groom visits the dethroned king 
in the Tower." Comic characters and those in low life generally 
speak in prose in the later plays, as Dowden intimates, but in the 
very earliest ones doggerel verse is much used instead. See on 10 
above. 

The change from prose to verse is well illustrated in the third 
scene of M. of V. It begins with plain prosaic talk about a busi- 
ness matter ; but when Antonio enters, it rises at once to the higher 
level of poetry. The sight of Antonio reminds Shylock of his hatred 
of the Merchant, and the passion expresses itself in verse, the ver- 
nacular tongue of poetry. We have a similar change in the first 
scene of/. C, where, after the quibbling " chaff" of the mechanics 
about their trades, the mention of Pompey reminds the Tribune of 
their plebeian fickleness, and his scorn and indignation flame out in 
most eloquent verse. In the first scene of the present play, note 
the change from prose to verse when Claudio begins to tell Don 
Pedro of his love for Hero. 

The reasons for the choice of prose or verse are not always so 
clear as in these instances. We are seldom puzzled to explain the 
prose, but not unfrequently we meet with verse where we might 
expect prose. As Professor Corson remarks {Introduction to Shake- 
spear e, 1889), "Shakespeare adopted verse as the general tenor of 
his language, and therefore expressed much in verse that is within 
the capabilities of prose ; in other words, his verse constantly en- 
croaches upon the domain of prose, but his prose can never be said 
to encroach upon the domain of verse." If in rare instances we 
think we find exceptions to this latter statement, and prose actually 
seems to usurp the place of verse, I believe that careful study of 
the passage will prove the supposed exception to be apparent 
rather than real. 

Some Books for Teachers and Students. — A few out of the 
many books that might be commended to the teacher and the crit- 
ical student are the following : Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines of the 
Life of Shakespeare (7th ed. 1887); Sidney Lee's Life of Shake- 



Notes 141 

speare (1898; for ordinary students the abridged ed. of 1899 is 
preferable); Rolfe's Life of Shakespeare (1904); Schmidt's Shake- 
speare Lexicon (3d ed. 1902); Littledale's ed. of Dyce's Glossary 
(1902); Bartlett's Concordance to Shakespeare (1895); Abbott's 
Shakespearian Grammar (1873); Furness's "New Variorum" ed. 
of Much Ado (1899; encyclopaedic and exhaustive) ; Dowden's 
Shakspere: His Mind and Art (American ed. 1881); Hudson's 
Life, Art, and Characters of Shakespeare (revised ed. 1882); Mrs. 
Jameson's Characteristics of Women (several eds. ; some with the 
title, Shakespeare Heroines) ; Ten Brink's Five Lectures on Shake- 
speare (1895); Boas's Shakespeare and His Predecessors (1895); 
Dyer's Folk-lore of Shakespeare (American ed. 1884); Gervinus's 
Shakespeare Commentaries (Bunnett's translation, 1875); Words- 
worth's Shakespeare's Knowledge of the Bible (3d ed. 1880) ; Elson's 
Shakespeare in Music (1901). 

Some of the above books will be useful to all readers who are 
interested in special subjects or in general criticism of Shakespeare. 
Among those which are better suited to the needs of ordinary 
readers and students, the following may be mentioned: Mabie's 
William Shakespeare : Poet, Dramatist, and Man (1900); Dow- 
den's Shakspere Primer (1877; small but invaluable); Rolfe's 
Shakespeare the Boy (1896 ; treating of the home and school life, 
the games and sports, the manners, customs, and folk-lore of the 
poet's time) ; Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome (for young 
students who may need information on mythological allusions not 
explained in the notes). 

Black's Judith Shakespeare (1884; a novel, but a careful study 
of the scene and the time) is a book that I always commend to 
young people, and their elders will also enjoy it. The Lambs' 
Tales from Shakespeare is a classic for beginners in the study of 
the dramatist ; and in Rolfe's ed. the plan of the authors is carried 
out in the Notes by copious illustrative quotations from the plays. 
Mrs. Cowden-Clarke's Girlhood of Shakespeare 's Heroines (Boston 
ed. 1904) will particularly interest girls; and both girls and boys 



142 Notes [Act 1 

will find Bennett's Master Skylark (1897) an ^ Imogen Clark's 
Will Shakespeare's Little Lad (1897) equally entertaining and in- 
structive. 

H. Snowden Ward's Shakespeare's Town and Limes (2d ed. 
1903) and John Leyland's Shakespeare Country (2d ed. 1902) are 
copiously illustrated books (yet inexpensive) which may be par- 
ticularly commended for school libraries. 

Abbreviations in the Notes. — The abbreviations of the 
names of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood ; as 
T. N. for Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Hen. VL. for 
The Third Part of King Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to 
The Passionate Pilgrim ; V. and A. to Venus and Adonis ; L. C. 
to Lover's Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 

Other abbreviations that hardly need explanation are Cf {confer, 
compare), Pol. (following), Ld. {idem, the same), and Prol. (pro- 
logue). The numbers of the lines in the references (except for the 
present play) are those of the "Globe" edition (the cheapest and 
best edition of Shakespeare in one compact volume), which is now 
generally accepted as the standard for line-numbers in works of ref- 
erence (Schmidt's Lexicon, Abbott's Grammar, Dowden's Primer, 
the publications of the New Shakspere Society, etc.). 



ACT I 

Scene I. — The stage-direction in the folio, as in the quarto, 
reads " Enter Leonato Gouernour of Messina, Lnnogen his wife" 
etc. ; but as lnnogen neither speaks nor is mentioned during the 
play, Theobald dropped her name from the list of dramatis per- 
sonce. As he suggests, the poet may at first have intended to 
introduce her, but afterwards decided to leave her out. Furness, 
however, regards the introduction of the name as an " unmistakable 
trace of the original play." See p. 12 above. 



Scene I] Notes 143 

1. Don Pedro. Both the quarto and the folio have "Don 
Peter'' here and in 11 below, but elsewhere " Don Pedro." 

3. By this. Cf. Macb. iii. 1. 26: " 'Twixt this and supper;" 
Lear, i. 1. 118: "from this for ever," etc. 

7. Sort. Probably = rank (Schmidt), as in 34 below. Cf. Hen, 
V. iv. 7. 142, iv. 8. 80, etc. 

9. Achiever. Used by S. nowhere else. 

19. Will be. Such omission of the relative is common in S. 

20. Very much glad. We should not now use this expression, 
though we say "very much pleased," "very much delighted," etc. 

23. Joy could not, etc. " Of all the transports of joy, that which 
is attended with tears is least offensive ; because, carrying with it 
this mark of pain, it allays the envy that usually attends another's 
happiness. This he finely calls a modest joy, such an one as did 
not insult the observer by an indication of happiness unmixed with 
pain" (Warburton). Capell says that the Joy" wore the modestest 
garb that joy can do, that is, silence and tears." 

24. Badge. Steevens compares Chapman, Odyssey, x. : — 

~" our eyes wore 
The same wet badge of weak humanity; " 

and Macb. i. 4. 33 : — 

" My plenteous joys, 
Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves 
In drops of sorrow." 

27. Kind. Natural (Schmidt). Cf. R. of L. 1423: "Conceit 
deceitful, so compact, so kind." Kindness = tenderness. Cf. 
T. A r . ii. 1. 41 : "my bosom is full of kindness, and I am yet so 
near the manners of my mother that upon the least occasion more 
mine eyes will tell tales of me." 

28. Truer. " Honester, more sincere " (Johnson). 

31. Montanto. A term in fencing, meaning, according to Cot- 
grave, "an upright blow or thrust." Cf. M. W. ii. 3. 27: "thy 
punto, thy stock, thy reverse, thy distance, thy montant." Steevens 



144 Notes [Act I 

cites Jonson, Every Man in his Humour : " your punto, your re- 
verso, your stoccata, your imbrocata, your passada, your montanto." 

34. Sort. See on 7 above. 

35. What. Who; as often. Cf. Temp. v. I. 185: "What is 
this maid? " etc. 

38. Pleasant. Facetious. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 259 : " We are glad 
the Dauphin is so pleasant with us" (see also 281); M. for M. 
iii. 2. 120: "You are pleasant, sir," etc. 

40. Set up his bills. That is, posted his challenge, like a prize- 
fighter. Steevens quotes Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour : 
" I have set up my bills without discovery ; " and Nash, Have With 
You, etc. : " setting up bills, like a bearward or fencer, what fights 

we shall have, and what weapons she will meet me at." He also 
gives this extract from an old MS. : " Item a challenge playde 
before the King's majestie [Edward VI.] at Westminster, by three 
maisters, Willyam Pascall, Robert Greene, and W. Browne, at seven 
kynde of weapons. That is to say, the axe, the pike, the rapier and 
target, the rapier and cloke, and with two swords, agaynst all alyens 
and strangers being borne without the King's dominions, of what 
countrie so ever he or they were, geving them warninge by theyr 
bills set up by the three maisters, the space of eight weeks before 
the sayd challenge was playde ; and it was holden four severall 
Sundayes one after another." It appears from the same work that 
all challenges " to any maister within the realme of Englande being 
an Englishe man " were against the rules of the " Noble Science 
of Defence." Saint Paul's was a place where these bills or adver- 
tisements were much posted. Nash, in his Pierce Pemtilesse, 
speaks of " maisterlesse men that set up theyr bills in Paules for 
services, and such as paste up theyr papers on every post for 
arithmetique and writing schooles." 

41. Flight. That is, shooting with the fight, which seems to 
have been a kind of arrow used for great distances. S. uses the 
word in this sense only here, but it is common in writers of the 
time. Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, Bonduca : " not a flight drawn 



Scene I] Notes 145 

home;" Middleton, Game of Chess : " discharg'd it like a flight," 
etc. 

43. Bird-bolt. A short, thick, blunt-headed arrow, .shot from a 
cross-bow and used to kill rooks with. Cf. Marston, What You 

Will: — 

" ignorance should shoot 
His gross-knobb'd bird-bolt." 

Douce says: "The meaning of the whole is — Benedick, from a 
vain conceit of his influence over women, challenged Cupid at 
roving (a particular kind of archery in which flight-arrows are 
used) ; in other words, he challenged him to shoot at hearts. 
The fool, to ridicule this piece of vanity, in his turn challenged 
Benedick to shoot at crows with the cross-bow and bird-bolt; an 
inferior kind of archery used by fools, who, for obvious reasons, 
were not permitted to shoot with pointed arrows : whence the 
proverb, 'A fool's bolt is soon shot/" Beatrice makes up the 
story in ridicule of Benedick, but of course it is founded on facts 
connected with archery, though we cannot be sure just what they 
were. Cf. A, Y. Z. v. 4. 67 and Hen. V. iii. 7. 132. See also 
Z. Z. Z. iv. 3. 25 and T. N. i. 5. 100. 

46. To eat, etc. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 7. 99 : — 

" Rambures. He longs to eat the English. 
Constable. I think he will eat all he kills." 

47. Tax. Reproach, inveigh against. Cf. A. Y. Z. ii. 7. 71, 
86, Ham. i. 4. 18, iii. 3. 29, etc. 

48. Meet with you. Even with you, a match for you. Steevens 
says that the expression is common in the Midland counties, and 
quotes Holiday, Technogamia, 1618: "Go meet her, or else she'll 
be meet with me." 

51. Victual. Elsewhere S. uses the plural. Bacon has both 

" Victual " and " Victuals " in Essay xxxiii. Cf. Exodus, xii. 39 

and Joshua, i. 11. S. uses both helped and holp as past tense and 

as participle. For the former use of holp, see K. John, i. 1. 240, 

MUCH ADO — 10 



146 Notes [Act 1 

Cor. v. 3. 63, etc. ; and for the latter, Temp. i. 2. 63, ZM. //. v. 
5. 62, yJ/<2<:£. i. 6. 23, etc. We find holpen in Psalms ; lxxxiii. 8, 
Daniel, xi. 34, etc. 

52. Trencher-man. Cf. trencher- friend (= parasite) in T.ofA. 
iii. 6. 106, and trencher -knight (= waiter) in Z. Z. Z. v. 2. 464 
(cf. 476); also Lodge, Wit's Miser ie, 1596: "His doublet is of 
cast satten cut sometime upon taffata, but that the bumbast hath 
eaten through it, and spotted here and there with pure fat to testi- 
fie that he is a good trencher-man." 

59. Stuffed. Fully endowed. Cf. R. and J. iii. 5. 183: " Stuff'd 
as they say, with honourable parts;" and W. T.\\. I. 185 : "of 
stuff'd sufficiency." Edwards observes that Mede, in his Dis- 
courses on Scripture, speaks of Adam as " he whom God had 
stuffed with so many excellent qualities." Beatrice uses the word 
contemptuously = stuffed out, padded. 

60. Stuffing. Halliwell-Phillipps says : " Beatrice seems to use 
the term stuffing in a sense analogous to the Latin vestis fartum 
(the stuffing of the dress ; that is, the person inside it) ; or, possibly, 
in reference to his mental qualities." 

We are all mortal. One of the affected phrases of the time. 
Cf. Sir Gyles Goosecappe, Knight, 1606: "Sir Gyles Goosecap has 
always a deathes head (as it were) in his mouth, for his onely one 
reason for every thing is, because wee are all mortall." 

66. Five wits. The wits, or intellectual powers, seem to have 
been reckoned as five to correspond with the five senses, which 
were also called wits. Cf. Chaucer, Persones Tale : " the five wittis ; 
as sight, hereing, smelling, savouring, and touching." Boswell 
quotes a prayer by Sir Thomas More, in which he asks to be for- 
given for his sins " in mispending of my five wittes." Schmidt says 
that " the proverbial five wits " were " common wit, imagination, 
fantasy, estimation, memory." In Sonn. 141. 9 we find the two 
meanings distinguished : — 

" But my five wits nor my five senses can 
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee." 



Scene I] Notes 147 

68. To keep himself war ?n. "To have wit enough to keep one's 
self warm" was a common proverb. Cf. T. of S. ii. 1. 268: — 

" Petruchio. Am I not wise ? 
Katharina. Yes ; keep you warm." 

Steevens quotes among other examples of the phrase, Jonson, Cyn- 
thia's Revels, ii. 1 : " your whole self cannot but be perfectly wise ; 
for your hands have wit enough to keep themselves warm." \Yright 
says that " it is still a common phrase in Ireland." 

69. Bear it for a difference. That is, for a mark of distinction ; 
a term in heraldry. Cf. Ham. iv. 5. 183 : "you must wear your rue 
with a difference." 

72. Sworn brother. Like the fratres jurati (sworn brothers) 
of chivalry, who took an oath to share each other's fortunes. Cf. 
Rich. II. v. 1. 20, 2 Hen. IV. hi. 2. 345, etc. 

75. Faith. That is, his fidelity as a friend. 

77. Block. Still the technical term for the wooden model on 
which hats are shaped. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 187 : "this' a good block." 
See also Epigra7nmes by I. D.^i$g6 : — 

" He weares a hat now of the flat-crowne blocke, 

The treble ruffes, long cloake, and doublet French ; 
He takes tobacco, and doth weare a locke ; 
And wastes more time in dressing then a wench ; " 

and Dekker, Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, 1606: "the blocke 
for his head alters faster then the feltmaker can fitte him, and 
thereupon we are called in scorne blockheads." 

78. Not in your books. Evidently = not in favour with you, but 
the origin of the phrase has been much disputed. Johnson gives it 
" to be in one's codicils or will, to be among friends set down for 
legacies." Steevens takes the books to be memorandum-books, or, 
perhaps, heraldic records (cf. T. of S. ii. 1. 225). Farmer says "to 
be in a man's books originally meant to be in the list of his re- 
tainers. 11 Knight explains it as a commercial allusion — one to 
whom you give credit. Schmidt, like Steevens, decides on " books 



148 Notes [Act 1 

of memory" (1 Hen. VI ii. 4. 101 and 2 Hen. VI. i. 1. 100), which 
seems the most plausible explanation. 

82. Squarer. Quarreller, bully. Cf. square = quarrel in M. N. 
D. ii. 1. 30, A. and C. ii. 1. 45, iii. 3. 41, etc. That will = that is 
determined. 

88. Presently. Immediately ; the usual meaning in S. Cf. 
Temp. i. 2. 125, iv. 1. 42, v. I. 10 1, etc. 

90. A thousand pound. S. uses both pounds and pound in the 
plural with numbers ; as also shilling, mile, year, etc. 

91. Hold friends with you. For the plural, cf. M. of V. i. 3. 
139 : "I would be friends with you " ; and M.for M. i. 2. 185 : — 

" Implore her in my voice, that she make friends 
To the strict deputy." 

S. has hold friends only here. 

103. Charge. Burden, incumbrance (Johnson). Douce thinks 
it means " the person committed to your care." 

no. You have it full. Schmidt explains this as = "you are the 
man, you will do," and compares T. of S.\. 1. 203 ; but it seems 
rather — you get as good as you sent, you are well answered. 

112. Fathers herself. Is like her father ; a phrase common in 
Dorsetshire (Steevens). For the verb, cf. J. C. ii. I. 297, Macb. iv. 
2. 27, etc. 

117. Still. Continually ; as in 134 below, and very often. 

121. Is it possible, etc. Steevens compares Cor. ii. I. 93: "Our 
very priests must become mockers, if they encounter such ridiculous 
subjects as you are." 

123. Convert. For the intransitive use, cf. R. of I. 592, Macb. 
iv. 3. 229, Rich. II. v. 1. 66, v. 3. 64, etc. 

126. Of. By. Cf. Macb. iii. 6. 27, etc. 

129. A dear happiness. True good luck. Cf. R. and J. iii. 3.: 
28 : " This is dear mercy." 

135. Scape. Not " 'scape," as often printed. It is often used in 
prose. Cf. state and estate, etc. 



Scene I] Notes 1 49 

136. Predestinate is used by S. nowhere else. The form is com- 
mon in participles of Latin origin. 

145. A jade^s trick. Cf. A. W. iv. 5. 64 : " If I put any tricks 
upon 'em, sir, they shall be jade's tricks; " T. and C. ii. 1. 21 : 
" a red murrain o' thy jade's tricks ! " For jade = a worthless or 
vicious horse, see V. and A, 391, J. C. iv. 2. 26, etc. 

157. / am not of many words. Cf. M.for M. ii. 1. 204: "Are 
you of fourscore pounds a year? " Oth. v. 1. 65 : " Are you of good 
or evil? " Sir J. Hawkins says : "The poet has judiciously marked 
the gloominess of Don John's character by making him averse to 
the common forms of civility." 

159. Please it your grace, etc. Will it please your grace, etc. 
Cf. Te??ip. iii. 3. 42 : " Will 't please you taste of what is here ? " 
The to is sometimes inserted; as in iii. 5. 20 below: "It pleases 
your worship to say so," etc. 

166. Do you question me, etc. "A very noteworthy confession 
by Benedick that his raillery against ' their sex,' and, by inuendo, 
against marriage, is not genuine, but assumed ; the subject was 
merely a fertile one whereon to expend his exuberant wit. This 
seems to have been quite overlooked by all critics" (Furness). 

169. Tyrant. That is, one who shows no mercy. Cf. M. for M. 
ii. 4. 169 : "I '11 prove a tyrant to him." 

184. Sad. Serious. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 227: " Speak sad brow 
and true maid." See also i. 3. 58 and ii. 1. 340 below. 

185. Flouting Jack. Cf. Temp. iv. 1. 198: "Monster, your 
fairy, which you say is a harmless fairy, has done little better than 
played the Jack with us." We have flouting-stock — (laughing- 
stock) in M. W. iii. 1. 120 and iv. 5. S^. Cf. the use oi flout in 
ii. 3. 142, v. I. 95, and v. 4. 101 below. 

To tell us Cupid is a good hare -finder, etc. This puzzled Johnson 
and Steevens, but Toilet explains it : " Do you scoff and mock in 
telling us that Cupid, who is blind, is a good hare-finder, which 
requires a quick eyesight ; and that Vulcan, a blacksmith, is a rare 
carpenter ? " 



150 Notes [Act 1 

187. To go in. To join you in. 

191. No such matter. Nothing of the kind. See on ii. 3. 215 
below. 

There 's her cousin, etc. A hint of the half-liking for Beatrice 
which is hidden under Benedick's depreciation of her. 

198. In faith. So in the folio, though it has "yfaith" just below. 
Furness remarks that here Benedick is speaking " with that slow 
deliberative manner . . . indicative of unbounded astonishment " 
— affected, of course. 

199. With suspicion. That is, " on account of the horns hidden 
under it" (Schmidt). Cf. 241 and 264 below. 

202. Sigh away Sundays. Possibly, as Steevens explains it, an 
allusion to the Puritanic observance of Sunday. Wright suggests : 
" when you will have most leisure to reflect on your captive condi- 
tion ; " and Furness adds : " and when, owing to the domesticity of 
the day, you cannot escape from your yokefellow." 

213. With who? Cf. "To who ?" in Oth. i. 2. 52, Cymb. iv. 2. 
75, etc. 

216. If this Tvere so, etc. If this were the truth, so it would be 
uttered ; or " if it is so, so it is." 

217. Like the old tale, etc. Mr. Blakeway gives this old tale as 
he heard it in childhood from his great aunt : " Once upon a time, 
there was a young lady (called Lady Mary in the story), who had 
two brothers. One summer they all three went to a country-seat 
of theirs, which they had not before visited. Among the other 
gentry in the neighbourhood, who came to see them, was a Mr. Fox, 
a bachelor, with whom they, particularly the young lady, were much 
pleased. He used often to dine with them, and frequently invited 
Lady Mary to come and see his house. One day that her brothers 
were absent elsewhere, and she had nothing better to do, she deter- 
mined to go thither, and accordingly set out unattended. When 
she arrived at the house and knocked at the door, no one answered. 
At length she opened it, and went in. Over the portal of the hall 
was written, 'Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.' She advanced — 



Scene I] Notes 151 

over the staircase, the same inscription. She went up — over the 
entrance of a gallery, the same. She proceeded — over the door 
of a chamber, ' Be bold, be bold, but not to bold, lest that your 
heart's blood should run cold.' She opened it — it was full of 
skeletons, tubs full of blood, etc. She retreated in haste. Com- 
ing down stairs, she saw, out of a window, Mr. Fox advancing 
towards the house, with a drawn sword in one hand, while with the 
other he dragged along a young lady by her hair. Lady Mary had 
just time to slip down and hide herself, under the stairs, before Mr. 
P'ox and his victim arrived at the foot of them. As he pulled the 
young lady up stairs, she caught hold of one of the bannisters with 
one hand, on which was a rich bracelet. Mr. Fox cut it off with 
his sword : the hand and bracelet fell into Lady Mary's lap, who 
then contrived to escape unobserved, and got home safe to her 
brother's house. 

" After a few days Mr. Fox came to dine with them, as usual 
(whether by invitation, or of his own accord, this deponent saith 
not). After dinner, when the guests began to amuse each other 
with extraordinary anecdotes, Lady Mary at length said she would 
relate to them a remarkable dream she had lately had. ' I dreamed,' 
said she, * that as you, Mr. Fox, had often invited me to your house, 
I would go there one morning. When I came to the house, I 
knocked, etc., but no one answered. When I opened the door, 
over the hall was written, " Be bold, be bold, but not too bold." 
But,' said she, turning to Mr. Fox, and smiling, 'it is not so, nor it 
was not so.' Then she pursues the rest of the story, concluding at 
every turn with, ' It is not so, nor it was not so,' till she comes to 
the room full of dead bodies, when Mr. Fox took up the burden of 
the tale, and said, ' It is not so, nor it was not so, and God forbid it 
should be so ; ' which he continues to repeat at every subsequent 
turn of the dreadful story, till she comes to the circumstance of his 
cutting off the young lady's hand; when, upon his saying, as usual, 
* It is not so, nor it was not so, and God forbid it should be so,' 
Lady Mary retorts, ' But it is so, and it was so, and here the hand 



152 Notes [Act 1 

I have to show,' at the same time producing the hand and bracelet 
from her lap : whereupon, the guests drew their swords, and in- 
stantly cut Mr. Fox into a thousand pieces." 

224. To fetch me in. To entrap me into a confession, or, we 
might say, " to draw me out." 

226. Spoke. Benedick means that he spoke his mind when he 
said " God forbid it should be so ! " 

238. In the force of his will. " Warburton's professional eye 
first detected the allusion here to heresy, as defined in scholastic 
divinity ; according to which it was not merely heterodox opinion, 
but a wilful adherence to such opinion. The subject was a familiar 
one in Shakespeare's day" (White). 

241. Recheat. Notes sounded on the horn to call off the hounds. 
Winded— blown. The meaning is, I will not wear a horn on my 
forehead which the huntsman may blow (Johnson). 

243. Baldrick. A baldrick was a belt, girdle, or sash, sometimes 
a sword-belt ; generally passed round one side of the neck and 
under the opposite arm. Turbervile, in his Book of Hunting, ed. 
161 1, gives a figure of a huntsman with his horn hanging from a 
baldrick worn in that way. Sylvester (Du Bartas) calls the zodiac 
" heaven's baldrick." Cf. Spenser, Prothalamion : — 

" That like the twins of Jove, they seem'd in sight, 
Which decke the Bauldricke of the Heavens bright." 

The invisibility of the horns of the cuckold is often alluded to by 
the old writers. 

245. Fine. End, conclusion. For the play on the word, cf. 
Ham. v. I. 115 : " The fine of his fines." 

253. A ballad-maker *s pen. Referred to contemptuously as a 
worthless instrument. 

257. Argument. Subject (that is, for satire). Cf. M. N. D. iii. 
2. 242 : — 

" If you have any pity, grace, or manners, 
You would not make me such an argument ; " 



Scene I] Notes 153 

and 1 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 100 : " it would be argument for a week, 
laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever." 

258. Like a cat. Shooting at a cat hung up in a bottle or a 
basket was one of the " manly sports " of the olden time. Steevens 
quotes Warres, or the Peace is Broken : " arrowes flew faster than 
they did at a catte in a basket ; " and Cornu-copice, 1623: "bow- 
men bold, which at a cat do shoot." 

260. Ada??i. Generally regarded as an allusion to Adam Bell, an 
outlaw whose fame as an archer is celebrated in a ballad which may 
be found in Percy's Reliques. Collier thinks the meaning may be 
that the person who makes the first hit is compared to Adam, " the 
first man." 

262. In time, etc. The line is taken from The Spanish Tragedy, 
where it reads, " In time the savage bull sustains the yoke." It 
had appeared even earlier in \Yatson's Passionate Centurie of Love, 
1582. In the original copy (MS. liar I. 3277) it reads, " In tyme 
the bull is brought to beare the yoake," but it was afterwards 
printed " weare the yoake." Halliwell-Phillipps cites Ovid, Tris- 
tia, iv. 6. 1: "Tempore ruricolae patiens fit taurus aratri ; " and 
De Arte Amandi, i. 471 : "Tempore difficiles veniunt ad aratra 
juvenci." 

272. In Venice. Venice was then " the capital of pleasure and 
intrigue," as Paris is now. Cf. Greene, Never Too Late : " this 
great city of Venice is holden Loves Paradice." 

274. You will temporize, etc. You will come to terms in the 
course of time. Cf. T. and C. iv. 4. 6 : " If I could temporize with 
my affection," etc. Furness suggests the possibility that S. coined 
the wo'rd temperize, and that the meaning may be, " You will 
become attempered by the hours, your temper will change and 
become more pliant and yielding." 

281. Tuition. Guardianship ; the etymological meaning. S. 
uses the word nowhere else. 

283. The sixth of July. " Old Midsummer Day, an appropriate 
date for such Midsummer madness" (Wright). 



154 Notes [Act I 

286. Guarded, Faced, bordered. Guards were trimmings or 
facings of lace or embroidery. Cf. M. of V. ii. 2. 164 : — 

" Give him a livery 
More guarded than his fellows' ; " 

Hen. VIII. prol. 16: "In a long motley coat guarded with yel- 
low ; " L. I. Z. iv. 3. 58 : " O, rhymes are guards on wanton 
Cupid's hose," etc. 

288. Flout old ends. Make sport of old endings of letters, like 
those just quoted by Claudio and Don Pedro. Reed cites Barnaby 
Googe's dedication to the first edition of Palingenius, 1560: "And 
thus committyng your Ladiship with all yours to the tuicion of the 
most mercifull God, I ende. From Staple Inne at London, the 
eighte and twenty of March." Malone adds Drayton's ending of 
a letter to Drommond of Hawthornden, in 1619 : "And so wishing 
you all happiness, I commend you to God's tuition, and rest your 
assured friend." Cf. R. of L. 1308, where Lucrece ends her letter 
thus : — 

" So I commend me from our house in grief; 
My woes are tedious, though my words are brief." 

Examine your conscience. " Examine if your sarcasms do not 
touch yourself " (Johnson). 

291. Thine to teach. Ready to be taught by you. 

296. Affect. Love. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. 1. 82 : — 

" There is a lady in Verona here 
Whom I affect," etc. 

297. Went onward. Started. 

305. To wars, — . Don Pedro interrupts Claudio in his fine- 
twisted story. 

309. Break with her. Broach the subject to her. Cf. T. G. of V. 
i. 3. 44: "now will we break with him; " Hen. VIII. v. I. 47: 
" Have broken with the king," etc. S. uses break to in the same 
sense ; as in 326 just below. He also has break with — break one's 



Scene I] Notes 155 

word to ; as in M. W. iii. 2. 57 : "we have appointed to dine with 
Mistress Anne, and I would not break with her for more money 
than I '11 speak of." 

315. SaliPd % Palliated. Cf. Cor. iii. 2. 70:=- 

11 you may salve so, 
Not what is dangerous present, but the loss 
Of what is past." 

Treatise. Discourse, talk. Cf. V. and A. 774 : " Your treatise 
makes me like you worse and worse ; " Mack v. 5. 12 : "a dismal 
treatise" (that is, tale). 

317. The fairest grant, etc. "The best boon is that which 
answers the necessities of the case " (Staunton) ; or what will serve 
is Jit, as the next line gives it. 

318. J T is once. Once for all. In C. of E. iii. 1. 89, "Once 
this " = this much is certain. 

321. I will assume thy part, etc. Where is this spoken ? In the 
next scene Antonio tells Leonato that a servant of his had over- 
heard the conversation in an alley in his orchard ; and in the next 
scene Borachio tells John that he had overheard it from behind an 
arras in the house. Are we to suppose an interval of time between 
the first and second scenes of this act ? Or were there two con- 
versations between the Prince and Claudio on this subject ? Or is 
it an instance of the poet's frequent carelessness in the minor parts 
of his plot? Probably this last is the true explanation. 

323. Unclasp my heart. Cf. T. A T . i. 4. 13 : — 

" I have unclasp'd 
To thee the book even of my secret soul." 

See also W. T. iii. 2. 168. 

324. Take her hearing prisoner, etc. Cf. Cy?nb. i. 6. 103 : 
" Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye." 

326. After. Afterwards. Cf. Temp. ii. 2. 10 : " And after bite 
me," etc. 

328. Presently. See on 88 above. 



i 5 6 



Notes [Act I 



Scene II. — 2. Your son. This is inconsistent with v. i. 289- 
291, where his "only heir" is said to be a daughter. 

4. Dreamt of. We should now say " have dreamt of." Cf. 
Hen. V. iv. 7. 58 : "I was not angry since I came to France." See 
also Cymb. iv. 2. 66, iv. 2. 190, A. and C. i. 3. 1, etc. 

6. They. S. uses news both as singular and as plural. Cf. 
Temp. v. I. 221, Rich. II. iii. 4. 74, 82, (7^r. i. I. 4, etc., with 
Zfe/2. FZ/7. ii. 2. 39, <9//z. ii. 2. 7, etc. See also ii. 1. 171 below: 
" these ill news ; "' and v. 2. 10 1 : " this news." 

9. Thick-pleached. Thickly interwoven. Cf. iii. I. 7 below: 
" the pleached bower ; " A. and C. iv. 14. 73 : " with pleach'd 
arms" (that is, folded arms). 

10. Orchard = garden ; the only meaning in S. 

11. Discovered. Revealed. Cf. Tear, ii. 1. 68: "I threaten'd 
to discover him," etc. 

14. By the top. Cf. A. W. v. 3. 39 : " Let 's take the instant by 
the forward top." For break with, see on i. 1. 309 above. 

20. Till it appear itself. Till it appear as a reality. 

22. Withal. With it. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 7. 67 : " he will scarce 
be pleas'd withal," etc. 

24. Cousins. " Cousins were anciently enrolled among the de- 
pendants, if not domestics, of great families, such as that of Leonato. 
Petruchio, while intent on the subjection of Katherine \_T. of S. iv. 
1. 154] calls out, in terms imperative, for his 'cousin Ferdinand' " 
(Steevens). 

25. Cry you mercy. Beg your pardon ; as often. 

Scene III. — 1. The good-year. Of unknown origin, according 
to the New Eng. Diet. It came to be used as a " meaningless ex- 
pletive." The usual etymology (from goujere) is inadmissible. Cf. 
M. W. i. 4. 129, Lear, v. 3. 24, etc. The expression was often 
used literally; as in Holyband's French Littleton, ed. 1609: "God 
give you a good morrow and a good yeare, — Dieu vous doit bon 
jour et bon an." 



Scene III] Notes 157 

4. Breeds, Theobald, followed by most of the editors, added it; 
but it is not necessary (Furness). 

11. Bom under Saturn, An astrological allusion. Those born 
under Saturn were supposed to be of a phlegmatic or saturnine 
disposition. Cf. T. A. ii. 3. 31 : — 

11 though Venus govern your desires, 
Saturn is dominator over mine." 

See also 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 286. Goest about = dost undertake ; as 
often. Cf. Boma?is, x. 3 and Psalms, xxxviii. 12 (Prayer-Book). 

12. Mortifying. Used in the literal sense == killing. Cf. M. of 
V, i. 1. 82: "mortifying groans." See also Hen. V. i. 1. 26. 

I cannot hide, etc. " This is one of our author's natural touches. 
An envious and unsocial mind, too proud to give pleasure and too 
sullen to receive it, always endeavours to hide its malignity from 
the world and from itself under the plainness of simple honesty or 
the dignity of haughty independence" (Johnson). 

14. Stomach. Appetite ; as in ii. 3. 257 below. See also T. G. 
of V. i. 2. 68, T. of S. iv. 1. 161, etc. 

17. Claw. Tickle, flatter. The origin of the metaphor is illus- 
trated by 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 282. See also I. I. I. iv. 2. 66. Reed 
quotes Wilson, Discourse upon Usury, 1572 : "therefore I will 
clawe him, and save well might he fare, and godds blessing have 
he too. For the more he speaketh, the better it itcheth, and mak- 
eth better for me." 

19. Controhnent. Constraint. Cf. T. A. ii. 1. 68 and K. John, 
i. 1. 20. 

21. Grace. Favour; as in ii. 3. 29 below: "one woman shall 
not come in my grace," etc. 

25. Canker. Canker-rose, or dog-rose. It is similarly con- 
trasted with the cultivated rose in Sonn. 54. 5 : — 

" The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye 
As the perfumed tincture of the roses; " 

and in 1 Hen. IV i. 3. 176: — 



158 Notes [Act 1 

" To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose, 
And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke ? " 

26. Blood. Disposition, temper. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 4. 38 : 
" When you perceive his blood inclin'd to mirth," etc. 

27. Carriage. Bearing, deportment. Cf. C. of E. iii. 2. 14: 
" Teach sin the carriage of a holy saint," etc. 

Rob love from any. Cf. Sonn. 35. 14: "that sweet thief which 
sourly robs from me ; " and Rich. II. i. 3. 173: "Which robs my 
tongue from breathing native breath." 

30. / am trusted, etc. Furness remarks : " Let it not be here- 
after said that S. never mixes his metaphors. A bird in a cage with 
a clog on its leg to keep it a prisoner, and a muzzle on its beak to 
keep it from biting, would be a sight for gods and men." S. cer- 
tainly has not a few mixed metaphors, though some that have been 
called so (like "taking up arms against a sea of troubles," etc.), 
are not really such. For a bad instance, see Rich. II. iii. 3. 96 fol. 

37. For I use it only. For I make nothing else my counsellor. 

40. / came. I have come. See on i. 2. 4 above. 

44. Model. Ground plan. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 3. 42 : — 

" When we mean to build, 
We first survey the plot, then draw the model ; 
And when we see the figure of the house, 
Then must we rate the cost of the erection ; 
Which if we find outweighs ability, 
What do we then but draw anew the model," etc. 

45. What is he for a fool? W 7 hat sort of fool is he ? Staunton 
quotes Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iii. 6 : " What is he 
for a creature ? " and Ram Alley, iv. 2 : " What is he for a man ? " 

50. Proper. For the ironical use, cf. iv. 1. 309 below: "a 
proper saying ! " See also Hen. VIII. i. 1. 98, Macb. iii. 4. 60, 
etc. And for the contemptuous squire, cf. I Hen. VI. iv. I. 23, 
Oth. iv. 2. 145, etc. 

And who, and who ? This has been variously explained, and 



Scene ill] Notes 159 

changes have been suggested. I have always taken the repetition 
as a contemptuous affectation of eagerness. 

54. March-chick. That is, a chicken hatched in March ; a 
sneer at his forwardness. 

56. Entertained for. Employed as. Cf. T. of A. iv. 3. 496: 
"To entertain me as your steward still; " Lear, iii. 6. 83 : "You, 
sir, I entertain for one of my hundred," etc. 

57. Smoking a musty room is suggestive of the uncleanly habits 
of the time. Steevens quotes Burton, Anat. of Melancholy : "the 
smooke of juniper is in great request with us at Oxford, to sweeten 
our chambers." In a letter from the Lords of the Council in the 
reign of Edward VI. we are told that Lord Paget's house was so 
small that " after one month it would wax unsavery for hym to con- 
tynue in ; " and in the correspondence of the Earl of Shrewsbury 
with Lord Burleigh, during the confinement of Mary Queen of 
Scots at Sheffield Castle, in 1572, we learn that she was to be re- 
moved for five or six days " to klense her chambar, being kept very 
unklenly." Again, in a memoir written by Anne Countess of Dorset 
in 1603, we read : "we all went to Tibbals to see the Kinge, who 
used my mother and my aunt very gratiouslie ; but we all saw a 
great chaunge betweene the fashion of the Court as it was now, 
and of y* in y e Queene's, for we were all lowzy by sittinge in 
S r Thomas Erskin's chamber." I may add T. of S. ind. 1. 49: 
" And burn sweet wood to make the lodging sweet." 

Me. The " ethical dative," so called. 

58. Sad. Serious, earnest. See on i. 1. 184 above. 

59. Arras. Tapestry hangings, so called from Arras in France. 
Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 163, iii. 3. 28, etc. 

63. Displeasure. " The hostility to all the world which he has 
just expressed" (Furness). 

Start-up. Used by S. nowhere else. Upstart occurs as a noun 
in 1 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 87, and as an adjective in Rich. II. ii. 3. 122. 

" In the character of the chief villain of the drama, the poet has 
wholly departed from the plot of Bandello's tale, which furnished 



1 60 Notes [Act 11 

him with the outline of the story. The novelist had ascribed the 
base deception, on which his story turns, to the revenge of a rejected 
lover, who, at the catastrophe, makes some amends for his guilt, by 
remorse and frank confession. Shakespeare has chosen to pourtray 
a less common and obvious, but unhappily too true character, — one 
of sullen malignity, to whom the happiness or success of others is 
sufficient reason for the bitterness of hatred, and cause enough to 
prompt to injury and crime. This character has much the appear- 
ance of being the original conception and rough sketch of that 
wayward, dark disposition, which the poet afterwards painted more 
elaborately, with some variation of circumstances and temperament, 
in his * honest Iago ' " (Verplanck). 

66. Sure. To be relied on. Cf. Cor. i. 1. 176 : — 

" you are no surer, no, 
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice, 
Or hailstone in the sun." 

68. Cheer. Festive enjoyment. The word originally meant 
face ; as in M. of V. iii. 2. 314, etc. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. I. 2 : 
*' But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad ; " Dryden, Hind 
and Panther, iii. 437 : "Till frowning skies began "to change their 
cheer," etc. 

70. Go prove. Furness compares 1 Thessalonians, v. 21 : "Prove 
all things." 



ACT II 



Scene I. — 4. Heart-burned. " The pain commonly called the 
heart-burn proceeds from an acid humour in the stomach, and is 
therefore properly enough imputed to tart looks" (Johnson). Cf. 
Falstaff's jesting use of the word in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 3. 59. 

20. Shrewd. Shrewish. Curst has the same meaning, and the 
two words are used interchangeably and in combination. In the 
T. of S. the heroine is called " Katherine the curst" (i. 2. 128) or 



Scene I] Notes 161 

"Kate the curst" (ii. I. 87), and "curst and shrewd" (i. 1. 185, 
i. 2. 70). 

23. God sends, etc. An old English proverb. Cf. Ray, Proverbs : 
" Curst cowes have short horns, Dat Dens immiti comua carta 
bovi." 

28. Just Just so, exactly so. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 281 : "Yes, 
just." See also M. for M. iii. 1. 68, Hen. V. iii. 7. 158, etc. 

31. In the woollen. That is, between the blankets, without 
sheets. Capell thought it meant " in my shroud ; " woollen being 
used for shrouds occasionally as early as the 16th century. 

41. Bear-herd. The early.eds. have " Berrord," which probably 
indicates the common pronunciation. The folio has " Beare-heard " 
in T. of S. ind. ii. 21 and 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 192. In 2 Hen. IV. v. 1. 
149 it has " Berard," and in 210 " Bearard." These are the only 
passages in which the word occurs. The apes rode on the bear led 
about by the bear-herd. For the idea that old maids led apes 
into hell, cf. T. of S. ii. 1. 34. 

50. Merry. In the time of S. often = joyful, "without the notion 
of levity that now attaches to it " (Wright). Cf. Psalms, xlvii. 5 
(Prayer-Book version) : " God is gone up with a merry noise." 

54. Curtsy. The same word as courtesy, which some eds. give 
here. The quarto has " cursie " in both instances in this speech, 
and Halliwell-Phillipps prints " cursey," which he says is " a gen- 
uine archaic form of the word courtesy." See also on iv. 1. 319 
below. 

62. To be overmastered with. To have as master, to be ruled by. 
With = by ; as often. Cf. v. I. 116 below. To make an account 
= to render an account. 

64. I Ul none. Cf. M. A r . D. iii. 2. 169 : "keep thy Hermia ; 
I will none ; " A. and C. ii. 5.9: "I '11 none now," etc. 

65. Match. Marry. Cf. T. N. i. 3. 116 : "she '11 none o' the 
count ; she '11 not match above her degree," etc. 

72. Important. Importunate. Cf. C. of E. v. 1. 138 : " your im- 
portant letters;" A. W. iii. 7. 21 : "his important blood." In 
MUCH ADO — II 



1 62 Notes [Act ii 

Lear, iv. 4. 26, the quartos have " important," the folio " impor- 
tun'd." S. seems to have confused the derivation of the words. 

Measure. Moderation, a proper limit ; with a play on the other 
meaning of a dance, as in L. L, L. iv. 3. 384 and Rich. II, iii. 4. 7. 

75. Cinque-pace, A kind of dance, as the context shows. Cf. 
T, N, i. 3. 139. The Cambridge ed. quotes Marston, Insatiate 

Countess, ii. : — 

" Thinke of me as of the man 
Whose dancing dayes you see are not yet done. 
Len. Yet, you sinke a pace, sir." 

The cinque-pace was much like the galliard, for which see Hen, V. 
i. 2. 252 : a nimble galliard," etc. Sir John Davies, in his Or- 
chestra, describes the dance thus : — 

" But, for more divers and more pleasing show, 
A swift and wandring daunce she did invent, 
With passages uncertaine, to and fro, 
Yet with a certaine answere and consent 
To the quicke musicke of the instrument. 
Five was the number of the musicks feet, 
Which still the daunce did with five paces meet. 

•' A gallant daunce, that lively doth bewray 
A spirit, and a vertue masculine, 
Impatient that her house on earth should stay, 
Since she herselfe is fiery and divine : 
Oft doth she make her body upward fline; 
With lofty turnes and capriols in the ayre, 
Which with the lusty tunes accordeth faire." 

Halliwell-Phillipps quotes Lanquettes Chronicle : u About this time 
[1541] a new trade of daunsyng galiardes upon five paces, and 
vaunting of horses, was brought into the realme by Italians, which 
shortly was exercised commonly of all yonge men, and the old 
facion lefte." 

77. Mannerly. Also used adverbially (as adjectives in -ly often 
are) in M. of V. ii. 9. 100 and Cymb. iii. 6. 92. 



Scene I] Notes 163 

78. Ancientry. " The port and behaviour of old age " (Schmidt) ; 
or perhaps = antique fashion. It means old people in W. T. iii. 
3. 63 : "wronging the ancientry." 

94. Favour. Face, look ; as in iii. 3. 19 below. Cf. M. for M. 
iv. 2. 34 : " for surely, sir, a good favour you have, but that you 
have a hanging look," etc. 

Defend. Forbid, like the Fr. defendre. Cf. iv. 2. 20 below. See 
also Oth. i. 3. 267 : " And heaven defend your good souls, that 
you think," etc. The case — the mask, which seems to have been 
an ugly one. 

96. Philemon's roof. An allusion to the story of Philemon 
and Baucis in Ovid. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 3. 10 : "worse than Jove in 
a thatched house." This and the next two speeches form a rhymed 
couplet in the fourteen-syllable measure of Golding's translation 
of Ovid. For Jove the folio misprints " Love." 

98. Well, I would, etc. This speech, with the next two here 
assigned to Balthazar, is given to Benedick in the early eds. Theo- 
bold made the correction. 

101. Which is one ? We should now say " What is one ? " 

108. Clerk. The reader of responses in the English church ser- 
vice ; suggested here by Balthazar's " Amen." Cf. Sonn. 85. 6 : 
"And like unlettered clerk still cry 'Amen;'" Rich. II. iv. 1. 
173 : "Am I both priest and clerk ? Well then, Amen." 

112. At a word. In a word, or briefly. Cf. M. W. i. I. 109 : 
" at a word, he hath, believe me ; " Cor. i. 3. 122 : " No, at a word, 
madam," etc. 

115. Do him so ill-well. That is, mimic his bad manner so well. 
Steevens compares M. of V. i. 2. 63 : "a better bad habit of 
frowning ; " but, as Furness notes, the meaning there is " a better 
bad-habit," not " a better-bad habit." 

116. Dry hand. Formerly regarded as the mark of a cold na- 
ture. Cf. T. N. i. 3. 77. Up and down — thoroughly, exactly. 
Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 3. 32 : " here's my mother's breath up and 
down ; " T. of S. iv. 3. 89 : " What, up and down, carv'd like an 



1 64 Notes [Act 11 

apple-tart ? " T. A. v. 2. 107 : " For up and down she doth re- 
semble thee." 

122. There '.? an end. There is no more to be said about it. Cf. 
Hen. V. ii. 1. 11, iii. 2. 153, etc. There an end is used in the same 
sense ; as in T. of S. v. 2. 98, Rich. II. v. 1. 69, etc. 

125. Nor will you not. The double negative is common in S. 

128. 'Hundred Merry Tales? A popular jest-book of the 
time, an imperfect copy of which was discovered and reprinted in 
1815. 

130. What 7 s he ? Who 's he ? See on i. 1. 35 above. 

136. Only his gift is. His talent is only. For the transposition, 
cf.y. C. v. 4. 12 : "Only I yield to die," etc. Impossible slanders 
are " such as, from their absurdity and impossibility, bring their 
own confutation with them" (Johnson). 

139. He both pleases, etc. "By his impious jests, she insinuates, 
he pleased libertines ; and by his devising slanders of them, he 
angered them" (Warburton). 

141. In the fleet. In the company; and the figure is carried 
out in boarded — accosted. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 170 : "I '11 board 
him presently," etc. 

147. Partridge wing. Formerly considered the most delicate 
part of the bird. It is doubtful whether there is any reference to 
that fact here, though the meaning may be that his appetite will be 
so entirely gone that not even such a titbit would tempt him. 

161. Near. Intimate with. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 4. 14 : "you and 
he are near in love ; " 2 Hen. IV. v. 1. 81 : "I would humour his 
men with the imputation of being near their master," etc. 

162. Enamoured. Followed by on also in 1 Hen. IV. v. 2. 70 
and 2 Hen. IV. i. 3. 102; by of in M. N. D. iii. 1. 141, iv. 1. 82, 
and R. and J. iii. 3. 2. 

168. To-night. Perhaps referring to szuore, as Wright thinks ; 
but the meaning may be that he would gladly marry her to-night if 
it were possible. 

171. News. For the number, see on i. 2. 6 above. 



Scene I] Notes 165 

175. Use. Probably the "subjunctive used optatively or imper- 
atively." Furness prefers to take it as the indicative, or " a simple 
statement of fact." 

178. Faith melteth into blood. Fidelity is melted in the heat of 
passion. For blood in this sense, cf. ii. 3. 163 and iv. I. 57 below. 
See also A. Y. L. v. 4. 59, A. IV. iii. 7. 21, etc. 

179. Proof Experience. Cf. J. C. ii. 1. 21 : "'t is a common 
proof; " Ham. iv. 7. 113 : "passages of proof," etc. 

180. Which /, etc. It may be a question whether this is an 
Alexandrine or a normal line with tw r o extra syllables, like 171 
above. 

185. Willow. For other allusions to the willow as the emblem 
of unhappy love, see M. of V. v. 1. 10, 3 Hen. VI. iii. 3. 228, iv. 1. 
100, Oth. iv. 3. 28 fob, v. 2. 248, etc. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 9 : 
" The Willow- worne of forlorne Paramours ; " Lyly, Sappho and 
Fhao f ii. 4 : "Enjoy thy care in covert ; weare willow in thy hat, 
and bayes in thy heart ; " Swan, Specuhim Mundi, 1635 : " ^ ^ s 
yet a custom that he which is deprived of his love must w^ear a 
willow garland." Fuller, in his- Worthies, describes the willow 7 as 
" a sad tree, whereof such who have lost their love, make their 
mourning garlands, and we know what exiles hung up their harps 
upon such dolefull supporters. The twiggs hereof are physick to 
drive out the folly of children," etc. 

186. County. Count ; the reading of the quarto here and in 
352 below. The folio has " Count " here, and " Counte " there, but 
"Counties" in iv. 1. 315. County is also found in M. of V. i. 2. 
49, A. W. iii. 7. 22, T. N. i. 5. 320, and often in R. and J. Cf. 
Warner, Albions England : " Home and Egmond, counties brave." 

187. An usurers chain. Gold chains were often worn by 
wealthy citizens in the poet's time, as they are now on public 
occasions by the aldermen of London (Reed). 

192. Drovier. The spelling of both quarto and folio ; a form 
used in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

205. Though bitter.- The reading of the early eds., changed by 



1 66 Notes [Act ii 

Johnson to " the bitter." No attempt to explain it as it stands 
seems to me at all satisfactory. In the folio it is printed "base 
(though bitter); " and it has occurred to me that the meaning may 
possibly be, " base (though bitter to me, in spite of the fact that, 
being base and therefore contemptible, I ought not to mind it)," or, 
more concisely, "base (though bitter nevertheless)." One must 
often "read between the lines" in S. and sometimes even between 
the words in a line. 

206. Puts the world, etc. Assumes to represent the world, and 
thus reports me. For gives me out, cf. A. W. ii. 3. 16: "That 
gave him out incurable," etc. 

212. A lodge in a warren. The hut occupied by a watchman in 
a rabbit warren. Steevens remarks : " A parallel thought occurs 
in the first chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet, describing the des- 
olation of Judah, says, * The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in 
a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers.' I am informed 
that near Aleppo these lonely buildings are still made use of, it 
being necessary that the fields where water-melons, cucumbers, 
etc., are raised should be regularly watched. I learn from Tho. 
Newton's Her ball to the Bible, 1587, that 'so soone as the cucum- 
bers, etc., be gathered, these lodges are abandoned of the watch- 
men and keepers, and no more frequented.' From these forsaken 
buildings, it should seem, the prophet takes his comparison." 

233. Hath a quarrel to you. Cf. T. N. iii. 4. 248 : " I am sure 
no man hath any quarrel to me;" Cor. iv. 5. 133: "Had we no 
quarrel else to Rome," etc. 

235. Wronged. " Injured by being misrepresented, slandered " 
(Wright). Cf. Rich. III. iv. 4. 211 : " Wrong not her birth, she is 
of royal blood ; " Temp. i. 2. 443. " I fear you have done yourself 
some wrong" (in representing yourself as King of Naples). 

236. Misused. Abused, reviled. Cf. A. Y. L. iv. I. 205: "you 
have simply misused our sex," etc. 

237. But with. With but, with only. Transpositions of " adverbs 
of limitation " {but, only, yet, etc.) are very frequent in S. 



Scene I] Notes 1 67 

238. My very visor, etc. Steevens notes a similar thought in 
Statius, Thebaid, v. 658 : — 

" ipsa insanire videtur 
Sphynx galeae custos." 

242. Impossible conveyance. " Incredible dexterity " (Staunton). 
Changes have been made in the text, but none is necessary. The 
meaning, as Malone remarks, is " with a rapidity equal to that of 
jugglers, who appear to perform impossibilities" Conveyance was 
often used in the sense of sleight of hand, trickery. Cf. 3 Hen. VI 
iii. 3. 160: "thy sly conveyance," etc. 

243. A man at a mark. I take this to mean a man in the 
position of a mark or target, though it does not seem necessary to 
read "as a mark," as Keightley proposed. Some refer it to the 
danger of being near the mark when the shooting is bad, as the 
marker had to be ; and Furness approves this explanation. If 
that were the meaning we should expect "shooting at it" rather 
than " at me." 

244. She speaks poniards. Cf. Ham. iii. 2. 414: "I will speak 
daggers to her." 

246. Terminations. Terms, words ; used by S. only here. 

249. Have made Hercules have turned. Cf. Ham. v. 1. 268 : " I 
hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife," etc. The error 
is still common. 

252. Ate. The goddess of discord. Cf. K. John, ii. 1. 63 : 
"An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife;" J. C. iii. 1. 271 : 
"With Ate by his side, come hot from hell," etc. 

253. Some scholar, etc. Because Latin, the language of the 
church, was used in exorcisms. See Ham. i. 1. 42: "Thou art a 
scholar; speak to it, Horatio." 

254. A man may live as quiet, etc. That is, to live in hell 
would be as quiet as to live in a sanctuary, compared with living 
where she is, and people sin on purpose in order to escape her in 
that way. 



1 68 ' Notes [Act ii 

263. Toothpicker. S. also uses toothpick ; . as in A. W.\. I. 171, 
K. John, i. 1. 190, etc. 

265. Pr ester John's foot. Prester or Presbyter John was a myth- 
ical Christian king of India. Some placed his dominions in Abys- 
sinia ; Sir John Mandeville locates them in an island called Pen- 
texoire. The difficulty of getting access to him is referred to in 
Hudibras : — 

" While like the mighty Prester John, 
Whose person none dares look upon, 
But is preserv'd in close disguise 
From being made cheap to vulgar eyes." 

The great Cham was the Khan of Tartary. He is associated 
with Prester John in the old drama of Fortunatus : — 

" And then I '11 revel it with Prester John, 
Or banquet with great Cham pf Tartary." 

Steevens quotes Cartwright, The Siege, 1651 : "bid me take the 
Parthian king by the beard ; or draw an eye-tooth from the jaw 
royal of the Persian monarch." Cf. the old romance of Huon of 
Bourdeaux ; "Thou must* goe to the citie of Babylon to the 
Admiral Gaudisse, to bring me thy hand full of the heare of his 
beard, and foure of his greatest teeth. Alas, my lord, (quoth the 
Barrons,) we see well you desire greatly his death, when you charge 
him with such a message." 

266. The Pigmies. A race of dwarfs fabled to dwell beyond 
Mount Imaus in India. Their wars with the cranes are celebrated 
in a poem ascribed to Homer. Cf. Milton, P. L. i. 575 : — 

" that small infantry 
Warr'd on by cranes ; " 

and Id. i. 780 : — 

" like that Pygmean race 
Beyond the Indian mount." 

276. Use. Interest, "usance" (M. of V. i. 3. 46, 109, 142). 
Cf. V. and A. 768; "But gold that's put to use more gold 



Scene I] Notes 169 

begets;" Sonn. 134. 10: "Thou usurer, that put'st forth all to 
use," etc. 

291. Civil count. Some eds. print "civil, count." The meaning 
of civil is the same in either case, and is perhaps best illustrated 
by Cotgrave's definition of aigre-douce as a " civile orange, or 
orange that is betweene sweet and sower." Cf. Nash, Four Let- 
ters Confuted, 1592: "For the order of my life, it is as civil as an 
orange." There is an obvious play upon civil and Seville. 

292. Jealous complexion. Cf. the use of yellowness = jealousy, 
in M. W. i. 3. ill. 

293. Blazon. Description, record. Cf. Ham. i. 5. 21 : "this 
eternal blazon" (this unfolding of the mysteries of eternity). 

294. Conceit. Conception, idea. Cf. M. of V. iii. 4. 2 : — 

" You have a noble and a true conceit 
Of godlike amity," etc. 

302. Cue. Still familiar as a stage term. For its literal sense, 
see M. W. iii. 3. 39, M. N. D. iii. 1. 78, 102, etc. 

311. Poor fool. Formerly an expression of tenderness. Cf. T. 
G. of V. iv. 4. 98, T. N. v. 1. 377, 3 Hen. VI. ii. 5. 36, etc. 

315. Good Lord, for alliance! This seems to mean " Heaven 
send me a husband!" (said sportively, of course), as Staunton 
explains it ; or " Good Lord, how many alliances are forming ! " 
as Boswell gives it. Furness is inclined to agree with Boswell, and 
suggests that alliance may be plural. See p. 137 above. To go to 
the world meant to marry ; perhaps originally in distinction from 
going into the church, where celibacy was the rule. Cf. A. W. i. 3. 
20 : " If I may have your ladyship's good will to go to the world," 
etc. So a wo??ian of the world = a married woman, in A. Y. L. v. 

3-5- 

316. Sun&urnt. Apparently = " homely," as Steevens explains 
it. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 282 : — 

" The Grecian dames are sunburnt and not worth 
The splinter of a lance." 



170 Notes [Act 11 

Wright thinks there is possibly an allusion to the Song of Songs, i. 
6, hinting at " the unsheltered condition of an unmarried woman 
who had no home of her own." 

317. Heigh-ho for a husband ! The title of an old ballad, pre- 
served in the Pepysian Collection, Magdalene College, Cambridge 
(Malone). Cf. iii. 4. 53 below. 

327. Matter. Sense. Cf. A. Y. Z. ii. 1. 68 : " For then he 's full 
of matter ; " Ham. ii. 2. 95 : " More matter with less art ; " Lear, 
iv. 6. 178 : " O matter and impertinency mix'd ! " 

339. The melancholy element. We have many allusions in S. to 
the old notion that all things were composed of the four elements, 
earth, air, fire, and water. Cf. T. N. ii. 3. 10, Sonn. 44. 13, 45. 5, 
A. and C. v. 2. 292, etc. But here element may be simply = con- 
stituent (Furness). 

341. Sad. Serious. See on i. 1. 184 above. 

342. Unhappiness. Theobald changed this to " an happiness ; " 
but Seymour explains the passage thus : " She hath often dreamed 
of unhappiness, which yet was so short-lived that presently she was 
merry again and waked herself with laughing." 

344. Hear tell. " This form of speech, which is now never heard 
in Old England, except perhaps in the remotest rural districts, is 
in common use in New England" (White). Wright, on the other 
hand, says that it is " rather a colloquialism of common occurrence 
than a rare provincialism " in England. 

352. County. See on 186 above. 

To go to church. Cf. M. of V. iii. 2. 305 : " First go with me to 
church and call me wife," etc. 

357. A just seven-night. An exact week. Cf.M. of V. iv. I. 
327 : "a just pound." 

360. Breathing. Interval, delay. Cf. R. of L. 1720: "Un- 
timely breathings." 

363. Mountain of affection. Johnson was sorely troubled by 
this colloquial expression, and suggested " mooting." Steevens 
and Malone think that S. may have written it, as he has " many 



Scene II] Notes 171 

phrases equally harsh." The discussion fills almost a page of the 
Variorum of 1 821. 

369. Watchings. Lying awake at night. Cf. Macb. v. I. 12: 
"To receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of 
watching." 

376. Strain. Family, lineage. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 4. 51 : "he is 
bred out of that bloody strain; " J. C. v. I. 59: "the noblest of 
thy strain," etc. See also Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 2>3- " Sprung of 
the auncient stocke of Princes straine ; " Id. v. 9. 32: "yborne 
of heavenly strene ; " Id. vi. 6. 9 : " bred of hellish strene." Ap- 
proved = proved, tried. Cf. iv. 1. 45 below: "an approved wan- 
ton ; " also 301 : " approved in the height a villain," etc. 

381. Queasy. Squeamish, fastidious. Cf. A. and C. iii. 6. 20: 
"queasy with his insolence" (that is, sick of it) ; Lear, ii. I. 19: 
"of queasy question " (= nice question). 

Scene II. — 1. Shall marry. Is to marry. Cf. A, Y. L. ii. 

4. %%,J. C. i. 3. SJ, etc. 

5. Medicinable. Medicinal. Qi. T. and C. i. 3. 91 : "Sol . . . 
whose medicinable eye;" Oth. v. 2. 351 : "medicinable gum" 
("medicinal" in quartos), etc. 

Displeasure to him. Cf. "a quarrel to you" in ii. I. 213 above. 
We find "displeasure against" in Temp. iv. 1. 202, A, Y. L. i. 2. 
90, and A. W. iv. 5. 80. 

6. Affection. Inclination, wish. Whatever thwarts his wishes 
agrees with mine. 

21. Tei7iper. Compound, mix; especially with reference to 
poisons. Cf. R. and J. iii. 5*. 98 : — 

" Madam, if you could find out but a man 
To bear a poison, I would temper it ; " 

Ham. v. 2. 339 : "It is a poison temper'd by himself; " Cymb„ v. 

5. 250: "To temper poisons for her." 

24. Estimation. Worth, merit ; as in A. W. v. 3. 4, etc. It is 



172 Notes [Act 11 

used in a concrete sense (= thing of worth) in T. and C. ii. 2. 91 
and Cymb. i. 4. 99. 

25. 5&z/£. Wanton, harlot ; as in iv. 1. 63 below. 

28. Misuse, Deceive. Cf. abuse in v. 2. 98 below : " the prince 
and Claudio mightily abused." Abuse is often used by S. in this 
sense, misuse only in the present passage. 

31. Despite. The only instance of the verb in S. 

35. Intend. Pretend. Cf. R. of I. 121: "Intending weariness 
with heavy spright." See also T. of S. iv. 1. 206, Rich. III. iii. 
5. 8, and T. of A. ii. 2. 219. On the other hand, pretend was 
sometimes = intend ; as in R. of L. 576, T. G. of V. ii. 6. 37, 
etc. 

41. Trial. That is, verifying it by their own observation. In- 
stances = proofs ; as in M. for M. iv. 3. 134, T. and C. v. 2. 153, 
etc. 

44. Term me Claudio. Theobald changed Claudio to " Bora- 
chio," but this does not seem necessary. As Malone remarks, 
Claudio might suppose that his rival was addressed as Claudio in 
consequence of a secret agreement between the guilty pair, in 
order to prevent suspicion if Hero should be overheard. For a 
long discussion of the passage, see Furness. 

48. Jealousy. Suspicion ; as often. Cf. T. N. ii. 3. 8, Hen. V. 
ii. 2. 126, etc. 

50. Grozv this. Let this grow. 

51. The working this. We should now say either "working 
this" or "the working of this." 

55. Presently. See on i. 1. %% above. 

Scene TIL — 4. Orchard. Garden. See on i. 2. 10 above. 

5. I am here already. The boy means that " his alacrity will be 
such that, in intention, he is gone and returned again" (Furness). 
Benedick affects to understand him literally. 

9. Behaviours. The details of his behaviour (Wright). 

II. Argument. Subject. See on i. 1. 257 above. 



Scene in] Notes 173 

14. The drum and the fife. Associated with military life, as the 
pipe and the tabor were with sports and festivities. 

16. Ten mile. Cf. Macb.v. 5. 37: "within this three mile;" 
and see on i. 1. 90 above. 

20. Orthography. The abstract for the concrete. Cf. L. L. L. 
i. 2. 190: "I am sure I shall turn sonnet." See also on hi. 3. 109 
below. 

30. In my grace. Into my favour. For grace, see on i. 3. 26 
above. In is often = into. 

31. I HI none. I '11 have nothing to do with her. See on ii. 
1. 64 above. 

Cheapen. Chaffer for, bid for. Cf. Per. iv. 6. 10 : " cheapen a 
kiss of her." In the Shropshire dialect cheapen = ask the price 
of. Cf. HeyAVOod, Edward IV. : "I see you come to cheap, and 
not to buy." Palsgrave gives, " I cheape, I demaunde the price of 
a thyng that I wolde bye." 

33. Noble . . . angel. With a punning reference to the two 
coins, the noble and the a77gel. For the noble, see Rich. II. v. 5. 67, 
where there is a quibbling reference to the royal, another coin. 
That jest is said to have been borrowed from Queen Elizabeth. 
Mr. John Blower, in a sermon before her Majesty, first said, "My 
royal Queen," and a little after, " My noble Queen." Upon which 
says the Queen : " What ! am I ten groats worse than I was ? " A 
similar joke may be found in 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 317-321. For the 
angel, see M. of V. ii. 7. 56, M. W. i. 3. 60, etc. 

34. Her hair, etc. Meaning, perhaps, that her hair shall be of 
the natural colour, not dyed according to the fashion of the time. 
Stubbes, in his Anatomie of Abuses, 1595, says : " If any have haire 
of her owne naturall growing, which is not faire ynough, then will 
they die it in divers colours." Or, possibly, when he comes to men- 
tion the hair, it occurs to him that he has no special preference for 
the colour, and he therefore leaves it to God. Furness suggests that 
he " had been quite unconsciously describing Beatrice," but, when 
he came to the colour of the lady's hair, " of a sudden he became 



174 Notes [Act ii 

aware that he was about to name the very tint of Beatrice's, and 
the dangerous tendency of his heart flashed upon him." Hence 
the turn he gives to the sentence. 

37. The quarto has here " Enter prince, Leonato, Claudio, 
Musicke," and six lines below "Enter Balthaser with musicke." 
The folio has only one stage- direction : " Enter Prince, Leonato, 
Claudio, and Iacke Wilson." This shows that the folio was printed 
from a copy of the quarto used in the theatre, Jack Wilson prob- 
ably being the singer who took the part of Balthazar. The quarto 
itself would appear to have been printed from a stage copy ; for 
in iv. 2. 1 both that edition and the folio assign the speech to 
" Keeper" doubtless a misprint for Kemp, who is known to have 
acted the part of Dogberry. The next speech is also given by 
both eds. to " Cowley" and another speech of Verges (iv. 2. 5) 
is assigned to the same actor. See also on iv. 2. 1 below. 

38. How still, etc. Cf. M. of V.v. I. 56 : — 

" soft stillness and the night 
Become the touches of sweet harmony." 

42. Kid- fox. Not elsewhere found, and, if it is = young fox, 
"singularly inappropriate" as applied to Benedick (Furness). 
Warburton changed it to " hid fox," which may be what S. wrote. 

45. To slander. The omission of as is common. 

48. Woo. Solicit, urge. Cf. A. Y. L. i. 3. 137: "Leave me 
alone to woo him;" Oth. iii. 3. 293: "Wooed me to steal it," etc. 

57. Nothing. The reading of the early eds. changed by 
Theobald to " noting ; " but, as White shows, nothing was then 
pronounced noting, and there is here a play on the two words, as 
on Goths and goats in A. Y. L. iii. 3. 9. Nothing rhymes with dot- 
ing in Sonn. 20. 12. I think, however, that White goes too far 
in assuming that we have the same pun in the title of the play. 
He says: "The play is Much Ado about Nothing only in a very 
vague and general sense, but Much Ado about Noting in one espe- 
cially apt and descriptive ; for the much ado is produced entirely 



Scene Hi] Notes 175 

by noting. It begins with the noting of the Prince and Claudio, 
first by Antonio's man, and then by Borachio, who reveals their con- 
fidence to John ; it goes on with Benedick noting the Prince, 
Leonato, and Claudio in the garden, and again with Beatrice not- 
ing Margaret and Ursula in the same place ; the incident upon 
which its action turns is the noting of Borachio's interview with 
Margaret by the Prince and Claudio ; and finally, the incident 
which reveals the plot is the noting of Borachio and Conrade by the 
Watch." But, as Furness remarks, "there is not more noting in 
this play than in many another." A T ote = observe, watch, is com- 
mon in S. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 267 : " Slink by and note him ;" T. 
and C. i. 2. 251 : "Mark him, note him," etc. See also in the 
present play i. 1. 162, iv. 1. 157, etc. 

58. Divine air ! Possibly meant to be understood as a quota- 
tion, and printed as such by some editors. 

59. Guts. Topsell, in his Hist, of Fow-footed Beasts, 1607, stat- 
ing the uses of the sheep, gives " his guts and intrals for musicke." 
The word in the time of S. was not so offensive to delicacy as at 
present. It is used by Lyly, " who made the first attempt to polish 
our language ;" also by Stanyhurst in his translation of Virgil, and 
by Chapman in his Iliad. Halliwell-Phillipps says : " I have seen 
a letter, written about a century ago, in which a lady of rank, ad- 
dressing a gentleman, speaks of her guts with the same nonchalance 
with which we should now write stomach." 

60. Hale. Draw ; etymologically the same as haul, which S. 
does not use, unless we recognize a solitary instance in 2 Hen. IV. 
v ' S' 37> where the quarto has "halde" and the folio "hall'd." 
Hale is also the form in Milton (P. L. ii. 596) and in Luke, xii. 58 
and Acts, viii. 3. S. uses the word fifteen times ; and he appar- 
ently uses exhale as if it were a derivative of hale (= draw out), as 
in Rich. III. i. 2. 58, 166, etc. On the effect of music here, cf. 
T. A 7 ", ii. 3. 60: "a catch that will draw three souls out of one 
weaver." 

61. When all >s done. After all. Cf. M. N. D. iii. I. 16: "I 



176 Notes [Act 11 

believe we must leave the killing out, when all is done." See also 
T. N. ii. 3. 31 and Macb. iii. 4. 67. 

70. Moe. Used only with plural or collective nouns. S. has it 
often ; as in M. of V. I I. 108, A. Y. L. iii. 2. 278, W. 7\ i. 2. 8, 
iv. 4. 278, v. 2. 137, etc. 

71. Dumps. Low spirits, melancholy; as in T. A. i. I. 391, R. 
and J. iv. 5. 129, etc. It is used by S. in this sense only in the 
plural ; but the singular is found in other writers. Cf. Harrington, 
Ariosto : " Strake them into a dumpe, and make them sad ;" Hall, 
Homer: "Leaving Prince Agamemnon then in dumpe and in sus- 
pense," etc. Dump also meant a melancholy strain of music. Cf. 
T, G. of V. iii. 2. 85 : " Tune a deploring dump." See also R. and 
J. iv. 5. 108 and R. of L. 11 27. It was also sometimes applied to 
an elegy. Davies of Hereford has one entitled "A Dump upon 
the Death of the most noble Henrie, Earle of Pembroke." 

73. Leazy. The regular form of the word in S. and here re- 
quired by the rhyme. 

81. Bode no mischief The howling of a dog was deemed an ill 
omen. Had as lief is good English still. 

&3' Night-raven. Either the owl, or, as some explain it, the 
night-heron {Ardea nycticorax). It is probably the same as the 
"night-crow" of 3 Hen. VI. v. 6. 45. Cf. Milton, HAIL 7: "And 
the night-raven sings." 

86. We would have it, etc. But we hear nothing more of it ; 
and, as Furness notes, there are many perplexing questions about 
the plot of Don John and Borachio which was to be carried out on 
the same night. 

93. O, ay. I suspect that this is the reply to Don Pedro's ques- j 
tion, as Theobald pointed it. The folio and most of the modern 
eds. connect it with what follows. 

Stalk on. An allusion to the use of the stalking-horse in fowling. 
Reed quotes John Gee's New Shreds of the Old Snare : " Methinks 
I behold the cunning fowler, such as I have knowne in the fenne 
countries and els-where, that doe shoot at woodcockes, snipes, and 



Scene in] Notes 177 

wilde fowle, by sneaking behind a painted cloth which they 
carrey before them, having pictured in it the shape of a horse ; 
which while the silly fowle gazeth on, it is knockt down with 
hale shot, and so put in the fowler's budget." Cf. A. Y. L. v. 
4. in. 

99. Sits the wind, etc. Cf. M. of V. i. I. 18: " to know where 
sits the wind; " Ham. i. 3. 56 : "The wind sits in the shoulder of 
your sail," etc. 

101. I cannot tell, etc. Some point the passage thus : " I cannot 
tell what to think of it ; but that she loves him with an enraged 
affection, — it is past the infinite of thought." Enraged = mad, in- 
tense. Infinite — infinite stretch, utmost power. 

108. Discovers. Shows. Cf. i. 2. 11 above; also 154 and iii. 
2. 92 below. 

in. Sit you. Yox you, see on i. 3. 57 above. 

119. Gull. Trick; the only instance of this sense in S. Cot- 
grave (French Diet.) defines baliverne as " a lye, fib, gull ; also, a 
babling, or idle discourse." 

122. Hold it up. Keep it up, continue it. Cf. M, N. D. iii. 2. 
239: "hold the sweet jest up; " Ham. v. 1. 34: "'they hold up 
Adam's profession," etc. 

139. That. For this affirmative use of that, cf. J. C. ii. 1 . 15 : 
" Crown him? That." 

140. Halfpence, That is, pieces as small as halfpence ; but 
Theobald explains it as "pieces of the same bigness" and compares 
A. Y. L. iii. 2.372: "all like one another, as halfpence are." The 
old silver halfpenny was as small as our half- dime. 

142. To write. That is, as to write. See on 41 above. 

148. Ctirses. The reading of the early eds., changed by some 
to "cries" ; but, as Furness remarks, "it is Claudio who speaks, 
and his words are less temperate than those of the white-bearded 
Leonato." Perhaps S. wrote " curses, prays," and the printer acci- 
dentally transposed the words. 

150. Ecstasy. Madness, passion ; the usual meaning in S. Cf. 

MUCH ADO — 12 



178 Notes [Act 11 

M. of V. iii. 2. 112, Ham. iii. 4. 138, etc. Overborne = overcome. 
Cf. M. N. D. ii. 1. 92, Hen. V. iv. chor. 39, etc. 

151. Afeard. Used by S. interchangeably with afraid. 

157. ^?z #////.?. A charity, a good deed. This use of alms is 
natural enough in itself and not rare in our old literature. Halli- 
well-Phillipps quotes The Disobedient Child: "It were almes, by 
my trothe, thou were well beaten." Alms is a true singular, the s 
belonging to the Greek original. Cf. T. of S. iv. 3. 5 and Acts, iii. 3. 

158. Excellent. An adverb, as often. Cf. iii. 1. 98 below: "an 
excellent good name," etc. Exceeding (160) is similarly used. 

163. Blood. See on ii. 1. 178 above. 

167. Dotage. Doting affection; as in 215 below. See also 
M. N. D. iv. 1. 52, Oth. iv. 1. 27, A. and C. i. 1. 1, etc. 

168. Daffed. The same as doff = do off. Here it means to put 
aside, as in v. 1. 78 below. It is used literally in A. and C. iv. 

4. 13: — 

11 He that unbuckles this, till we do please 

To daff 't for our repose, shall hear a storm." 

179. Contemptible. Contemptuous. Cf. medicinable, ii. 2. 5 
above. On the other hand, contemptuous is sometimes used in the 
sense of contemptible ; as in 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 86 : " Contemptuous 
base-born callet as she is." 

181. Proper. Good-looking, handsome ; as in M. N. D. i. 2. %%, 
M. of V. i. 2. 77, etc. 

182. A good outward happiness. "A happy exterior, a prepos- 
sessing appearance" (Schmidt). Cf. "excellent differences " = 
different excellencies, in Ham. v. 2. 112, etc. 

186. Wit. Wisdom, intellectual power; as the connection 

shows. See on i. 1. 66 above, and cf. 235 below. Furness, how- 
ever, thinks it has the modern sense ; as in i. 1. 64 above. 

197. Large. Free, broad. Cf. iv. 1. 50 below. 

201. Counsel. Reflection, deliberation. Cf. iv. I. 100 below. 

205. Let it cool the zvhile. Let it rest meanwhile. Cf. iii. 2. 127 

below : " bear it coldly but till midnight." 



Scene in] Notes 179 

209. Walk. Go, withdraw ; as in Lear, iv. 7. 83, Oth. iv. 3. 
4, etc. 

214. Carry. Carry out, manage. Cf. iv. I. 209 below: "this 
well carried," etc. See also M. N. D. iii. 2. 240, T. N. iii. 4. 150, 
etc. 

215. Another 's. The other's; as in W. T. iv. 4. 176, etc. 
And no such matter. And it is nothing of the kind, it is not so 

at all. Cf. Sonn. 87. 14: "In sleep a king, but waking no such 
matter." See also i. 1. 191 above and v. 4. 82 below. 

217. Merely. Entirely; as in Temp. i. 1. 59, Ham. i. 2. 127, 
etc. A dumb show — a pantomime ; like that introduced in Ham. 
iii. 2 before the play, and in Per. at the beginning of act iii. 

220. The conference was sadly borne. The conversation was 
seriously carried on. See on sad, i. 1. 184 above. 

222. Have their full bent. Are at their utmost tension ; a meta- 
phor taken from the bending of a bow. Cf. iv. 1. 185, and T. N. 

ii. 4. 38 : — 

" Then let thy love be younger than thyself, 
Or thy affection cannot hold the bent." 

223. Censured. Judged, estimated. Cf. Cor. ii. 1. 25 : " do you 

two know how you are censured here in the city? " J. C. iii. 2. 16: 
" censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may 
the better judge," etc. 

231. Reprove. Disprove, confute. Cf. V. and A. 787: "What 
have you urg'd that I cannot reprove?" 2 Hen. VI. iii. I. 40: 
" Reprove my allegation, if you can." 

233. Argument. Proof. Cf. L. L. L. i. 2. 175: "a great argu- 
ment of falsehood," etc. 

235. Odd quirks. Commonplace conceits. Cf. Rich. III. i. 3. 
337 : " old odd ends stolen out of holy writ." 

239. Quips. Sarcasms. Cf. T. G. ofV. iv. 2. 12: — 

"all her sudden quips, 
The least whereof would quell a lover's hope ; " 

Milton, HAH. 27 : " Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles," etc. 



180 Notes [Act m 

Sentences. Maxims. Cf. R. of L. 244: "a sentence or an old 
man's saw ; " M. of V. i. 2. 1 1 : " Good sentences," etc. Paper 
bullets ; that is, taken from books. 

256. Withal = with. Cf. i. 2. 22 above, where it is = with it. 
For stomach, see on i. 3. 14 above. 

264. A Jew. Often used in this contemptuous way. Cf. M. of 
V. ii. 2. 119 : " I am a Jew if I serve the Jew any longer ;" I Hen. 
IV. ii. 4. 198 : "lama Jew else, an Ebrew Jew, " etc. 



ACT III 



Scene I. — 1. Thee. Possibly = thou, as Abbott makes it. Cf. 
iv. 1. 24 : " Stand thee," etc. 

3. Proposing. Conversing ; from the Fr. propos, discourse, talk 
(Steevens). Cf. the use of the noun in 12 just below. So proposer 
= speaker, orator, in Ham. ii. 2. 297. 

4. Whisper her ear. Cf. A. W. ii. 3. 75 : " The blushes in my 
cheeks thus whisper me ; " W. T. i. 2. 437 : " Your followers I 
will whisper to the business, " etc. 

7. Pleached. See on thick-pleached, i. 2. 9 above. 

12. Propose. The quarto reading; the folio has "purpose," 
which Reed defends as sometimes used in the same sense. He 
quotes Knox's Reformation in Scotland: "with him six persons ; 
and getting entrie, held purpose with the porter ; " and again : 
" After supper he held comfortable purpose of God's chosen chil- 
dren. " Propose is, however, generally adopted by the editors. 
For listen, cf. Macb. ii. 2. 28,/. C. v. 5. 15, etc. 

16. Trace. Walk, pace. Cf. M. N. D. ii. I. 25 : "trace the 
forests wild." 

24. Lapwing. Cf. Ham. v. 2. 193 : "this lapwing runs away 
with the shell on his head, " etc. 

25. Conference. See on ii. 3. 220 above. 



Scene I] Notes 1 8 1 

36. Haggards, Wild or untrained hawks. Cf. T. of S. iv. 1. 
196 : — 

" Another way I have to man my haggard, 
To make her come and know her keeper's call ; " 

Id. iv. 2. 39 : "this proud disdainful haggard ;" T, N, iii. I. 71 : — 

" And, like the haggard, check at every feather 
That comes before his eye." 

In Oth, iii. 3. 260, the word is used as an adjective = wild, 
untractable. 

42. Wish, Desire, bid. Cf. M, for M, v. I. 79 : — 

" Duke. You were not bid to speak. 

Lucio, No, my good lord, 

Nor wish'd to hold my peace. " 

For wrestle , . . to let, cf. Hen, VIII, ii. 4. 14 : — 

" Sir, I desire you [to] do me right and justice, 
And to bestow your pity on me," etc. 

45. As full as fortunate, Fully^s fortunate (as pointed by Staun- 
ton, Cambridge ed., and Schmidt). Most eds. point "as full, as 
fortunate." Both quarto and folio have "as full as." 

50. Of prouder stuff, Cf. J. C. iii. 2. 97: "Ambition should be 
made of sterner stuff." See also Hani. iii. 4. 36, iv. 7. 31, etc. 

51. Disdain and scorn, etc. Cf. Etiphues Golden Legacie, 1590: 
" Her eyes were like those lampes that make the wealthie covert of 
the Heavens more gorgeous, sparkling favour and disdaine, cour- 
teous and yet coye, as if in them Venus had placed all her amorets, 
and Diana all her chastitie. " 

52. Misprising. Slighting, despising. Cf. A, Y, L. i. I. 177 : 
"I am altogether misprised;" Id. i. 2. 192: "your reputation 
shall not therefore be misprised," etc. So misprision = contempt 
in A, W, ii. 3. 159. 

54. Weak. " Almost = stupid " (Schmidt). Cf. L. Z. Z. v. 2. 
374 : " Your wit makes wise things foolish." 



182 Notes [Act in 

55. Project. Idea, conception. 

56. Self- endeared. Self-loving, absorbed in love of self. 

60. How. However. Cf. Sonn. 28. 8 : " How far I toil, still 
farther off from thee; " Cymb.iv. 2. 17 : " How much the quantity, 
the weight as much," etc. 

61. Spell him backward. Misconstrue him; "alluding to the 
practice of witches in uttering prayers" (Steevens). 

63. Black. Dark-complexioned. Cf. T. G. of V. v. 2. 12 : 
" Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes." An antic was a 
buffoon. Cf. Rich. II. iii. 2. 162, Hen. V. iii. 2. 32, etc. Here it 
may mean any grotesque figure. 

65. Lozv. For low as opposed to tall, cf. i. 1. 172 above. See 
also M. N. D. iii. 2. 295 fcl. 

An agate. Alluding to the figures cut in the agates set in rings. 
Cf. Z. L. I. ii. 1. 236: " His heart, like an agate, with your print 
impress'd; " 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 19: "I was never manned with an 
agate till now." See also R. and J. i. 4. 55 : " In shape no bigger 
than an agate-stone " (in a ring). 

66. A vane. Deighton suggests that there may also be a refer- 
ence to the creaking of a vane. Cf. Borachio's speech, iii. 3. 130 
below. 

70. Simpleness. Simplicity, innocence. Cf. M. N. D.\. I. 8^ : 
"simpleness and duty;" A. W. i. I. 51 : "the better for their 
simpleness." In R. and J. iii. 3. 77 it means silliness. 

71. Commendable. Accented on the first syllable, as regularly 
in S., except in M. of V.i. 1. 1 11. Abbott also excepts Ham. i. 2. 
87, but the other accent seems better there. 

72. From all fashions. Averse to the ordinary ways of people. 
¥ ox from = away from, out of, cf. Temp. i. 1. 65 : " Which is from 
my remembrance ; " J. C. i. 3. 35 : " Clean from the purpose " 
(see also Ham. iii. 2. 22), etc. There is a play upon this sense of 
from in M. of V. iii. 2. 192 and Rich. Ill iv. 4. 258. Some editors 
change not to "nor," to avoid the double negatives. 

76. Press me to death. Alluding to the ancient punishment of 



Scene I] Notes 1 83 

the peine forte et dure, or pressing to death by heavy weights 
laid upon the body. Cf. M. for M. v. 1. 528 : " pressing to death, 
whipping, and hanging ; " Kick. II. iii. 4. 72 : " I am press' d to 
death through want of speaking," etc. 

79. It were a better death, etc. The reading of the quarto, which 
has " then," the old form of than. The 1st folio reads "a better 
death, to die ; " and the 2d folio " a bitter death to die." White 
adopts this last reading, on the ground that the one in the text 
" can only refer to Benedick's consuming away in sighs ; whereas it 
is herself that Hero represents as being in danger of being pressed 
to death with wit, if she reveal Benedick's passion, and * therefore? 
she says, 'let Benedick consume' etc." But when Hero speaks of 
being pressed to death with wit, it is a mere feminine hyperbole ; 
she has of course no real fear of such a death. Her thoughts then 
turn to Benedick, who, like herself, would be exposed to the mocks 
of Beatrice if his passion become known to her ; and she says, nat- 
urally enough, Better let him die of secret love than of Beatrice's 
scorn. The transition is as thoroughly feminine as the form of ex- 
pression. 

80. Tickling. Metrically a trisyllable {tickle-ing) like hand- 
ling in 2 Hen. IV. iv. I. 161, tacklings in 3 Hen. VI. v. 4. 18, 
etc. Cf. assembly, v. 4. 34 below. 

84. Honest slanders. Not dishonest or affecting her honour. 

89. Swift. Ready ; as in A. Y. I. v. 4. 65 : " he is very swift 
and sententious," etc. 

90. Prized. Estimated ; as in iv. 1. 217 below : "what we have 
we prize not to the worth." See also T. and C. iv. 4. 136, 1. 1. 1. 
v. 2. 224, etc. 

96. Argument. "Discourse, or the powers of reasoning" (John- 
son and Schmidt). 

101. Every day, to-?norrow. "Every day after to-morrow; a 
play on the question" (Staunton). 

103. Furnish. Dress. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 258 : "furnished like 
a hunter ;" P. and J. iv. 2. 35 : — 



1 84 Notes [Act in 

" such needful ornaments 
As you think fit to furnish me to-morrrow. M 

104. Lim'd. Ensnared as with birdlime. For the metaphor, cf. 
T. N. iii. 4. 82 : "I have limed her ; " Ham. iii. 3. 68 : — 

" O limed soul that, struggling to be free, 
Art more engag'd ! " 

See also R. of L. %%, Macb. iv. 2. 34, etc. 

107. What fire is in mine ears ? Warburton sees an allusion to 
the vulgar notion that the ears burn when other people are talking 
of us. As Reed notes, the idea is very ancient, being mentioned 
by Pliny. Cf. Holland's translation : " Moreover is not this an 
opinion generally received, That when our ears do glow and tingle, 
some there be that in our absence doe talke of us ? " Steevens 
quotes The Caste 11 of Courtesie, 1582 : — 

" That I doe credite giue 
vnto the saying old, 
Which is, when as the eares doe burne, 
some thing on thee is told." 

I think, with Schmidt, that Beatrice does not refer to the proverb, 
but means simply " What fire pervades me by what I have heard ! " 
Furness aptly says : " If there be any reader who does not appre- 
hend what that fire of purification is, lit up by Hero, by whose quick- 
ening light Beatrice sees a new world with a new heaven and a 
new earth, he had better close his Shakespeare and read no more." 

no. No glory lives, etc. "In the self- illumination which Bea- 
trice is now experiencing, her past life flashes before her, and she 
sees that for th.^ pride and scorn in which, as a girl, she had gloried, 
she now stands condemned ; no glory waits on them, or is behind 
their back ; therefore she abjures them" (Furness). 

112. Taming, etc. " This image is taken from falconry. She 
had been charged with being as wild as haggards of the rock ; she 



Scene II] Notes 185 

therefore says that, wild&s her heart is, she will tame it to the hand" 
(Johnson). 

116. Reportingly. On hearsay. 

Scene II. — 2. Consummate. For the form, cf. M. for M. v. 1. 

383:- 

" Do you the office, friar ; which consummate, 
Return him here again." 

See also on i. 1. 136 above. 

3. Bring. Accompany. Cf. W. T.'w. 3. 122: "Shall I bring 
thee on the way ? " See also Genesis, xviii. 16, Acts, xxi. 5, etc. 
Vouchsafe = allow; as in C. of E. v. I. 282: "vouchsafe me speak 
a word," etc. 

6. The new gloss, etc. Cf. Macb. i. 7. 34: "Which would be 
worn now in their newest gloss ; " Oth. i. 3. 227 : " the gloss of 
your new fortunes." 

As to show a child, etc. Cf. R. and J. iii. 2. 29 : — 

" As is the night before some festival 
To an impatient child that hath new robes 
And may not wear them." 

7. Only. That is, only for his company. See on ii. I. 136 above, 

11. Hangman. Cf. M. of V. iv. 1. 125: "the hangman's axe,' 1 
etc. But hangman in the present passage may be = rascal, rogue, 
as Johnson explains it in his Diet. It is certain that the word, hav- 
ing come to mean " an executioner in general," was afterwards used 
as a general term of reproach. It was also used sportively in this 
sense, and Nares gives this passage as an instance. He also cites 
Heywood, I Edward IV. v. 3 : — 

" How dost thou, Tom ? and how doth Ned ? quoth he ; 
That honest, merry hangman, how doth he ? " 

12. Sound as a bell was a common expression, as it still is. 

20. The toothache. Boswell quotes Beaumont and Fletcher, The 
False One : — 



1 86 Notes [Act in 

" You had best be troubled with the toothache too, 
For lovers ever are." 

23. Hang it first, and draw it afterwards. A quibbling allusion 
to "hanging, drawing, and quartering." Cf. M. for M. ii. 1. 215 : 
" they will draw you, Master Froth, and you will hang them ; " 
K, John, ii. 1. 504 : — 

" Drawn in the flattering table of her eye ! 
Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her brow! 
And quarter'd in her heart ! " 

26. Worm. A worm at the root of the tooth was formerly sup- 
posed to be the cause of toothache. Cf. Bartholomseus, De Prop. 
Rerum, 1535: "some tyme by wormes they [the teeth] ben 
chaunged into yelow colour, grene, or black : all this cometh of 
corrupt and evyll humours ; " and again : " Wormes of the teethe 
ben slayne with myrre and opium." 

30. Fancy. Love ; as often. Don Pedro plays upon the word. 

33. Two countries at once. Steevens quotes Dekker, Seven 
deadly Sinnes of London, 1606: "For an Englishman's sute is like 
a traitor's body that hath been hanged, drawne, and quartered, and 
is set up in severall places : his codpiece is in Denmarke : the col- 
lor of his dublet and the belly, in France : the wing and narrow 
sleeve, in Italy : the short waste hangs ouer a Dutch botcher's stall 
in Utrich : his huge sloppes speaks Spanish : Polonia gives him the 
bootes," etc. 

34. Slops. Large loose breeches ; as in the passage just quoted. 
Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 34: "my short cloak and my slops;" R. 
and J. ii. 4. 47: "your French slop." Steevens quotes Jonson, 

Alchemist : — 

" six great slops 
Bigger than three Dutch hoys." 

35. No doublet. Mason thought this should be "all doublet," to 
correspond with the actual dress of the old Spaniards. Steevens 
says: " no doublet; or, in other words, all cloak." 



Scene II] Notes 187 

The passage Or in the shape . . . no doublet was omitted in the 
folio, probably to avoid giving offence to the Spaniards, with whom 
James became a friend in 1604 (Malone) ; or, as Wright suggests, 
to avoid offending James himself. 

45. Stuffed tennis balls. Steevens cites Nash, Wonderful Prog- 
nostication for 1591 : "they may sell their haire by the pound, to 
stuffe tennice balls;" and Henderson adds Ram Alley, 161 1: 
" Thy beard shall serve to stuff those balls by which I get me heat 
at tenice ; " and The Gentle Craft, 1600: " He '11 shave it off, and 
stuffe tenice balls with it." 

52. Note. Mark, sign. Cf. W. T. i. 2. 287: "a note infalli- 
ble ; " Hen. V. iv. chor. 25 : " Upon his royal face there is no 
note," etc. 

54. To wash his face. "That the benign effect of the tender 
passion upon Benedick in this regard should be so particularly 
noticed requires, perhaps, the remark that in Shakespeare's time 
our race had not abandoned itself to that reckless use of water, 
either for ablution or potation, which has more recently become 
one of its characteristic traits " (White). But, as Wright observes, 
the reference here is probably to the use of cosmetics, which is in 
keeping with the mention of paint that follows. 

58. A lute-string. Love- songs were then generally sung to the 
music of the lute. Cf. 1 Hen. IV. i. 2. 84: "a lover's lute." The 
stops of a lute were " small lengths of wire on which the fingers 
press the strings." 

60. Conclude. The folio does not repeat the word. 

64. Conditions. Qualities; as in Hen. V. iv. I. 108, A. W.'w. 
3. 288, etc. 

66. Face upwards. Theobald wanted to read " heels upwards " 
or " face downwards," and Johnson and Steevens favoured the 
change ; but the true interpretation is probably suggested by 
W. T. iv. 4. 131 and Per. v. 3. 43. For other explanations, which 
seem to me forced or far-fetched, the reader may be referred to 
Furness, who has almost two pages on the passage. 



1 88 Notes [Act m 

68. Charm for the toothache. Scot, in his Discoverie of Witch- 
craft, 1584, gives many charms for the toothache, one of which is 
the repeating of the following formula : " Strigiles falcesque den- 
tatce, dentium dolorem persanate — O horsse-combs and sickles 
that have so many teeth, come heale me now of my toothach." 

70. Hobby-horses. The hobby-horse was a figure in the rural 
May-games and morris-dances. The name came to be used figura- 
tively as a term of familiarity or of contempt. Cf. Z. Z. Z. iii. 1. 
31, W. T.\. 2. 276, and Oth. iv. I. 160. 

72. To break with. See on i. 1. 309 above. 

79. Good den. Good evening ; used as a salutation after noon, 
before which time good morrow or good day was the proper form. 

85. What's the matter? Perhaps this belongs to Claudio, as 
Capell conjectured and Furness thinks " highly probable." 

92. Discover. Reveal. See on i. 2. 1 1 above. 

94. Aim better at me. Form a better opinion of me. Cf. T. G. 
of V. iii. I. 45: "That my discovery be not aimed at" (that is, 
guessed at, suspected). See also Rich. III. i. 3. 65 and Ham. iv. 

5-9- 

95. For. As for, as regards. Holds you well = thinks well of 
you. Cf. T. and C. ii. 3. 190: " 'T is said he holds you well" (see 
also iv. I. 77) ; Oth. i. 3. 396 : " He holds me well." 

96. In deamess of heart. Out of love to you. For holp, see on 
i. I. 51 above. 

100. Circumstances shortened. Not to go into particulars. Cf. 
T. of S. v. I. 28 : " To leave frivolous circumstances," etc. 

101. A talking of Cf. Temp.ii. 1. 185: "go a bat-fowling," etc. 

102. Disloyal. Unfaithful, especially in love. Cf. disloyalty in 
ii. 2. 48 above. See also Oth. iii. 3. 409, etc. 

107. Paint out. Fully describe. 

117. Trust that you see, etc. The omission of the relative is 
especially frequent after the demonstrative that. 

127. Bear it coldly. Keep quiet about it. Cf. ii. 3. 205 above: 
" let it cool the while." 



Scene in] Notes 189 

129. Untowardly. Perversely, unluckily. S. uses the word 
nowhere else, but he has untoward (= refractory, unmannerly) in 
T. of S. iv. 5. 79 and K. John, i. 1. 243. 

Scene III. — Dogberry gets his name from a shrub growing in 
the hedges throughout England, and Verges is the provincial pro- 
nunciation of verjuice (Steevens). Halliwell-Phillipps says that 
Dogberry occurs as a surname in a charter of the time of Richard II., 
and Varges as that of a usurer in IMS. Ashmol. 38, where this epi- 
taph is given : " Here lyes father Varges, who died to save charges." 

7. Give them their charge. To charge his fellows seems to have 
been a regular part of the duty of the constable of the watch. Cf. 
Marston, Insatiate Countess : " Come on, my hearts : we are the 
city's security ; I '11 give you your charge." 

11. George. Halliwell-Phillipps reads " Francis," supposing him 
to be the person mentioned in iii. 5. 59 below ; but that is not 
certain. 

14. Well-favoured. Good-looking. See on favour, ii. 1. 94 
above. 

24. Lantern. Spelt " lanthorn " in the early eds. The sides of 
the lantern were then made of horn, and that may have suggested 
the orthography, though it has no connection with the etymology 
of the word. Cf. the quibble in 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 55 : "he hath the 
horn of abundance, and the lightness of his wife shines through it." 
The lantern, like the bill and bell, was a part of the regular equip- 
ment of the watch. Cf. Wit in a Constable, 1639 : — 

"You're chatting wisely o'er your bills and lanthorns, 
As becomes watchmen of discretion." 

34. No noise. Cf. R. and J. i. 4. 40 : " Dun 's the mouse [ap- 
parently = keep still], the constable's own word." 

41. Bills. The bill was a kind of pike or halberd, formerlythe 
weapon of the English infantry. Johnson says that it was still 



190 Notes [Act in 

carried by the watchmen of Lichfield in his day. Steevens quotes 

Ar den of Fever sham, 1592: — 

"the watch 
Are coming toward our house with glaives and bills." 

47. Not the men, etc. Halliwell-Phillipps says that this was the 
usual excuse made by the constables when they had searched inno- 
cent persons. 

51. Meddle or make, A familiar phrase, not entirely obsolete 
now, at least in New England. 

56. They that touch pitch. A popular proverb, found in Ecclesi- 
asticus, xiii. 1 : " He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith." 

64. If you hear a child cry, etc. Steevens remarks : "It is not 
impossible but that part of this scene was intended as a burlesque 
on The Statutes of the Streets, imprinted by Wolfe in 1595. Among 
these I find the following : — 

' 22. No man shall blowe any home in the night, within this 
citie, or whistle after the hour of nyne of the clock in the night, 
under paine of imprisonment. 

e 23. No man shall use to goe with visoures, or disguised by 
night, under paine of imprisonment. 

'24. Made that night-walkers and evisdroppers, have like 
punishment. 

* 25. No hammer-man, as a smith, a pewterer, a founder, and 
all artificers making great sound, shall not worke after the houre 
of nyne at night,' etc. 

' 30. No man shall, after the houre of nyne at night, keep any 
rule, 1 whereby any such suddaine outcry be made in the still of the 
night, as making any affray, or beating his wyfe, or servant, or sing- 
ing, or revyling in his house, to the disturbaunce of his neighbours, 
under paine of iiis. iiiid,' etc." 

Ben Jonson is thought to have ridiculed this scene in the induc- 
tion to his Bartholomew Fair : " And then a substantial watch to 
have stole in upon 'em, and taken them away with mistaking words, 

1 Be guilty of any disorder. Cf. night-rule in M. N. D. iii. 2. 5. 



Scene III] Notes I9I 

as the fashion is in the stage practice." Yet, as Mason observes, 
Ben himself, in his Tale of a Tub, makes his wise men of Finsbury 
speak in the same blundering style. Gifford believes it very im- 
probable that Jonson refers to S., as these " mistaking words " were 
common in the plays of the time, and are elsewhere put into the 
mouths of constables. 

74. Present. Represent ; but not one of Dogberry's blunders. 
Cf. Temp. iv. 1. 167: "when I presented Ceres," etc. 

78. Statues. The folio reading ; the quarto has " statutes." It 
is quite certain that the blunder is Dogberry's. 

85. Keep your fellows' counsels and your ozun. This is part of 
the oath of a grand juryman, and is one of many proofs of the poet's 
familiarity with legal formalities and technicalities. 

88. The church-bench. In the porch of the church. 

93. Coil. Bustle, confusion. Cf. v. 2. 97 below: "yonder 's old 
coil at home." 

99. Scab. There is a play on the word, which sometimes meant 
a contemptible fellow. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 82: "Out, scab ! " It has 
been revived recently in that sense. For the quibble, cf. T. and C. 
ii. 1. 31, Cor. i. 1. 169, and 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 296. 

102. Pent-house. A porch or shed with sloping roof, common in 
the domestic architecture of the time. There was one on the house 
in which S. was born. For stand thee, see on iii. 1. 1 above. 

103. Like a true drunkard. Malone suggests that S. may have 
called him Borachio from the Spanish borracho, a drunkard, or 
borracha, a leathern bottle for wine. Whether S. knew that or 
not, the allusion here is unquestionably to the familiar Latin prov- 
erb, in vino Veritas, as Furness also suggests. Borachio is always 
represented on the stage as drunk, but I do not believe that S. 
meant he should be. 

109. Villany. Warburton wished to read "villain" here ; but 
it is natural that Borachio should repeat the word, and the use of 
the abstract for the concrete is a familiar rhetorical figure. See on 
ii. 3. 20 above. 



192 Notes [Act in 

116. Unconfirmed, Inexperienced; as in Z. Z. Z. iv. 2. 19: 
"his undressed, unpolished, uneducated, unpruned, untrained, or, 
rather, unlettered, or, ratherest, unconfirmed fashion." 

126. This seven year. A common phrase = a long time. See 
on i. I. 90 above, and cf. 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 343, etc. 

132. Bloods. Young fellows. Cf. J. C. iv. 3. 262 : "I know 
young bloods look for a time of rest." Elsewhere it means men 
of spirit or mettle; as in J. C. i. 2. 151: "the breed of noble 
bloods." See also K.John, ii. 1. 278, 461. 

134. Reechy. Reeky, smoky, dirty. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 182: 
" reechy kisses ; " Cor. ii. 1. 225 : " her reechy neck," etc. 

135. In the old church-window. That is, in the painted glass. 
There were threescore and ten of the god B 'el's priests, as we learn 
from the Apocrypha* 

The shaven Hercules is probably the hero shaved to look like a 
woman while in the service of Omphale, his Lydian mistress. 
Warburton thought that the reference was to Samson whom some 
Christian mythologists identified with Hercules. Sidney, in his 
Defence of Poesie, tells of having seen " Hercules painted with his 
great beard and furious face in a womans attire, spinning at Om» 
phales commandement." 

136. Smirched. Smutched, soiled. Cf. iv. 1. 132 below: 
" smirched thus and mir'd with infamy." See also A. Y. L. i. 3. 
114 and Hen. V. iii. 3. 17. 

1440 Me. See on i. 3. 57 above. 

148. Possessed. Influenced. Cf. i. I. 192 above: "possessed 
with a fury." In 154 just below it has much the same sense. 

150. Encounter. Often used of the meeting of lovers. Cf. iv. 
1. 91 below. 

170. A lock. It was a fashion with the gallants of the time to 
wear a pendent lock of hair over the forehead or behind the ear, 
sometimes tied with ribbons, and called a love-lock. Fynes Mory- 
son, in a description of the dress of Lord Mountjoy, says that his 
hair was " thinne on the head, where he wore it short, except a lock 



Scene iv] Notes 193 

under his left eare, which he nourished the time of this warre [the 
Irish War, in 1599], and being woven up, hid it in his neck under 
his ruffe." When not on service he probably wore it displayed. 
The portrait of Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset, painted by Van- 
dyck, shows this lock with a large knot of ribbon at the end of it 
hanging under the ear on the left side. See on i. I. 77 above, and 
cf. The Return from Parnassus, 1606: — 

" He whose thin fire dwells in a smoky roofe, 
Must take tobacco, and must wear a lock."' 

174. Masters. In the quarto and the folio this speech and the 
next are both given to Conrade. In the folio, it reads thus: "Conr. 
Masters, neuer speake, we charge you, let vs obey you to goe with 
vs." The correction, which is generally adopted, was made by 
Theobald. 

177. We are like to prove, etc. " Here is a cluster of conceits. 
Commodity was formerly, as now, the usual term for an article of 
merchandise. To take up, besides its common meaning (to appre- 
hend}, was the phrase for obtaining goods on credit. * If a man is 
thorough with them in honest taking up,' says Falstaff [2 Hen, IV. 
i. 2. 45], 'then they must stand upon security.' Bill was the term 
both for a single bond and a halberd" (Malone). For the quibble, 
cf. 2 Hen. VI. iv. 7, 135 : " My lord, when shall we go to Cheap- 
side, and take up commodities upon our bills ? " 

179. In question. That is, subject to judicial examination 
(Steevens). Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 68: "He that was in question 
for the robbery ? " 

Scene IV. — 6. Rabato. Collar, ruff ; sometimes, the wired 
support for a ruff. Cf. Dekker, Guls Hornbook, 1609: "Your 
stiff-necked rebatoes (that have more arches for pride to row un- 
der, than can stand under five London-bridges) durst not then," 
etc. Cotgrave, in his Fr. Diet., as quoted by Nares, has "Rabat — 
a rebatoe for a woman's ruffe." Cf. Marston, Scourge of Vil- 
lanie : — 

MUCH ADO — 13 



194 Notes [Act m 

" Alas her soule struts round about her neck ; 
Her seate of sense is her rebato set." 

9. By my troth, 's not so good. This is the reading of both 
quarto and folio, as in 18 just below. It is a contraction for " By 
my troth, it 's," etc. So this is is shortened into this\ as in Lear, 
iv. 6. 187: "This' a good block" ("This a" in the folio). 

13. Tire. Head-dress. Cf. ,&?#». 53. 8: " And you in Grecian 
tires are painted new ; " T. G. of V. iv. 4. 190: " If I had such a 
tire," etc. 

14. Hair. The false hair used in the tire; though Delius 
takes it to be Hero's own hair. 

17. Exceeds. Excels. For the 'intransitive use, cf. Per. ii. 3. 
16: "To make some good, but others to exceed." The participle 
is often so used; as in T. G. of V. ii. I. 100: "O exceeding 
puppet ! " 

18. Night-gown. Dressing-gown, or "undress" gown. Cf. 
Macb. ii. 2. 70, v. I. 5, etc. 

In respect of= in comparison with; as in L. L. L. v. 2. 639: 
" Hector was but a Troyan in respect of this," etc. 

19. Cuts. Probably "slashed openings in the gown, filled in 
with some other material" (Wright). Schmidt defines cut as "a 
slope in a garment," whatever that may be, and compares T. of S. 
iv. 3. 90: "Here's snip and nip and cut and slish and slash;" 
but it is doubtful whether it there has this technical meaning. 
Petruchio seems to be merely referring in a profane masculine way 
to the complicated cutting of the garment, which he has just said 
is " carv'd like an apple-tart." Immediately after, when the tailor 
asks, "But did you not request to have it cut?" he replies, "I bid 
thy master cut out the gown ; but I did not bid him cut it to 
pieces." Perhaps this dialect of the mantua-maker is beyond the 
ken of the male critic. 

20. Down sleeves. "Hanging sleeves" (Schmidt). As side- 
sleeves undoubtedly means long or hanging sleeves, Steevens reads 
"set with pearls down sleeves." In Laneham's Account of Queen 



Scene IV] Notes 195 

Elizabeths Entertainment at Kenelworth- Castle, 1575, .the min- 
strel's " gown had side-sleeves down to the mid-leg." Stowe, in 
his Chronicle, describes these sleeves as worn in the time of Henry 
IV., some of which, he says, " hung downe to the feete, and at 
least to the knees, full of cuts and jagges, whereupon were made 
these verses : — 

1 Now hath this land little neede of broomes, 
To sweepe away the filth out of the streete, 
Sen [since] side-sleeves of pennilesse groom es 
Will it up licke be it drie or weete.' '■ i 

% ■•' I ' 
Side or syde is said to be usejlfln ttie/E?<j.rth of England and in 

Scotland, in the sense of Jong when applied to garments. A side- 
gown — a long one ; as in the Paston Letters : " a short blue gown 
that was made of a side-gown." Cf. Fitzherbert's Book of Hus- 
bandry : " Theyr cotes' be so syde that they be fayne to tucke them 
up whan they ride, as women do theyr kyrtels whan they go to the 
market." 

White remarks here : " The dress was made after a fashion 
which is illustrated in many old portraits. Beside a sleeve which 
fitted more or less closely to tHe arm and extended to the wrist, 
there was another, for ornament, which hung from the shoulder, 
wide and open." If this explanation is correct, down sleeves would 
mean the inner close sleeves, side-sleeves the outer loose ones. 

21. Under borne. According to Schmidt and Halliwell-Phillipps, 
this is = trimmed, or faced. Wright thinks it means "lined." 
Tinsel was " a stuff interwoven with gold or silver thread." 

22. Quaint. Fanciful, or elegant. Cf. T. of S. iv. 3. 102: "a 
gown more quaint, more pleasing," etc. 

32. Saving your reverence. " Margaret means that Hero was 
so prudish as to think that the mere mention of the word husband 
required an apology" (Cambridge ed.). 

36. Light. S. is fond of playing on the different senses of light ; 
as here on that of light in weight and that of wanton (as in " a 
light woman"). Cf. C. of E. iii. 2. 52, M. N. D. hi. 2. 133, M. 



196 Notes [Act in 

of V. iii. 2. 91, Rich. II. iii. 4. 86, T. and C. i. 3. 28, Cymb. v. 4. 
25, etc. 

43. * Light 0" love. y A popular old dance tune, referred to again 
in T. G. of V, i. 2. 83: "best sing it to the tune of * Light of 
love.' " Cf. The Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 2 : " He gallops to the 
tune of * Light o' love.' " 

45. Yea, light o' love. The early eds. have "Ye light o' love," 
which some retain. Halliwell-Phillipps says that light 0' love was 
a common term for a woman of light character. 

46. See. In barns there is a quibbling reference to bairns = 
children. Cf. W. T. iii. 3. 70 : " Mercy on 's, a barne ! a very 
pretty barne ! " A. W. i. 3. 28 : " they say barnes are blessings." 

48. I scorn that with my heels. A common expression, which is 
played upon by Lancelot in M. of V. ii. 2. 9 : " scorn running with 
thy heels." 

53. For a hawk, etc. Heigh ho for a Husband 'was the title of 
an old ballad. See on ii. 1. 317 above. 

54. For the letter, etc. Referring to ache which was pronounced 
aitch. Cf. Heywood, Fpigrammes, 1566: — 

" H is worst among letters in the crosse-row ; 
For if thou find him either in thine elbow, 
In thine arm, or leg, in any degree ; 
In thine head, or teeth, or toe, or knee; 
Into what place soever H may pike him, 
Wherever thou find ache thou shalt not like him ; " 

and Wits Recreation, 1 640 : — 

" Nor hawk, nor hound, nor horse, those hhh [aitches], 
But ach itself, *t is Brutus' bones attaches." 

It was only the noun, however, that had this pronunciation ; the 
verb was pronounced and often spelt ake. In V. and A. 875 and 
C. of E. iii. 1. 58, the verb rhymes with brake and sake. The noun 
is of course dissyllabic in the plural, as is evident from the measure 
in Temp. i. 2. 370, T. of A. i. I. 257, v. I. 202. There is nothing 



Scene IV] ] Notes 1 97 

anomalous in this, as critics and teachers have supposed. The 
only strange thing about it is that the noun should have lost its 
original and proper pronunciation. Cf. speak and speech, break and 
breach, etc. In all such cases the verb has the /£-sound. 

55. Turned Turk. A proverbial expression — completely 
changed for the worse. Cf. Hani. iii. 2. 287 : " if the rest of 
my fortunes turn Turk with me;" Cook, Green's Tu Quo que : 
" This it is to turn Turk, from an absolute and most compleat gen- 
tleman, to a most absurd, ridiculous, and fond lover." 

57. Trow, That is, / trow = I wonder (Schmidt), or trow ye 
= think ye (Halliwell-Phillipps). Cf. M. W. i. 4. 140: "Who 's 
there, I trow ? " Cymb. i. 6. 47 : " What is the matter, trow ? " In 
affirmative sentences, / trow is often = " I dare say, certainly " 
(Schmidt). Cf. Rich. II. ii. I. 218, I Hen. VI. ii. I. 41, v. I. 56, 
R. and J. i. 3. 33, etc. 

60. Gloves. Presents of gloves were much in fashion in the 
time of S. 

66. Professed apprehension. Set up for a wit; as the answer 
shows. 

71. Carduus Benedict us. The Blessed Thistle, or Holy Thistle, 
an annual plant from the south of Europe, which got its name from 
its reputation as a cure-all. It was even supposed to cure the 
plague, which was the highest praise that could be given to a medi- 
cine in that day. Steevens quotes Cogan, Haven of Health, 1595: 
" This herbe may worthily be called Benedictus, or Omnimorbia, 
that is, a salve for every sore, not knowen to physitians of old time, 
but lately revealed by the speciall providence of Almighty God." 
The Vertuose Boke of Dystillacyon of the Waters of all nianer of 
Herbes, 1527, says that "Water of Cardo Bendictus . . . heleth al 
dysseases that brenneth." Hayne, in his Life of Luther, 1641, 
states that about 1527 Luther " fell sick of a congealing blood about 
his heart," but " drinking the water of carduus benedictus, he was 
presently helped." The plant retains little of its ancient reputa- 
tion in our day ; though, according to Sweringen's Phar?naceutical 



198 Notes [Act 111 

Lexicon (Phila. 1873), it is naturalized in this country and "con- 
sidered tonic, diaphoretic, and emetic.' , 

76. Moral. " That is, some secret meaning, like the moral of 
a fable " (Johnson). Cf. T. of S. iv. 4. 79: "to expound the 
meaning or moral of his signs and tokens." 

Sj. Eats his meat without grudging. "And yet now, in spite of 
his resolution to the contrary, he feeds on love, and likes his food " 
(Malone). It is more likely that it means, Though he is in love, 
he is the same valiant trencherman (i. 1. 52) as of old. 

89. Look with your eyes, etc " That is, direct your eyes toward 
the same object, namely, a husband" (Steevens). 

91. A false gallop. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 119: "the very false 
gallop of verses." It may be = "forced gait" (1 Hen. LV. iii. I. 
135) According to Madden, it is = "artificial canter." 

Scene V. — 3. Confidence. Probably a blunder for conference, 
as in R. and J. ii. 4. 114 (Nurse's speech). 

10. Off the matter. Astray, away from the subject. Cf. Cymb. 
i. 4. 17 : "a great deal from the matter." 

13. Honest as the skin between his brows. A proverbial expres- 
sion. Cf. Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1575 : "I am as true, I would 
thou knew, as skin betwene thy brows ; " Cartwright, Ordinary, 
v. 2 : "I am as honest as the skin that is between thy brows," etc. 

17. Palabras. That is, pocas palabras, Spanish = few words. 
Cf. T. of S. ind. i. 5 : " Therefore paucas pallabris ; let the world 
slide : sessa ! " Henley cites The Spanish Tragedy : " Pocas pal- 
labras, milde as the lambe." Palabras has become naturalized in 
palaver. 

19. Tedious. The tediousness of constables was proverbial. 
Cf. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels : " Ten constables are not so tedious." 

21. The poor duke^s officers. For the blundering transposition, 
cf. M.for M. ii. I. 47 : " I am the poor duke's constable" (cf. 185). 

23. Of your worship. On your worship. Cf. T. JV. iii. 4. 2 : 
" What bestow of him ?" See also A. W. iii. 5. 103. 



Scene V] Notes 199 

25. A thousand pound. See on i. 1. 90 above. 

35. When the age, etc. An obvious blunder for the old proverb, 
" When the wine is in, the wit is out." Heywood, in his Epi- 
grammes, gives it " When ale is in, wit is out." 

36. A world to see. " A treat to see " (Schmidt) ; " wonderful 
to see" (Steevens); or "worth seeing" (Holt White). Cf. T. of 
S. ii. I. 313 : '"t is a world to see How tame," etc. Baret, in his 
Alvearie, 1580, explains " It is a world to heare " by "it is a thing 
worthie the hearing ; " and in the Myrrour of Good Manners 
compyled in Latin, etc., " Est operae pretium doctos spectare 
colonos " is rendered " A world it is to se wyse tyllers of the 
grounde." Many other examples of the expression might be 
given. 

37. God 's a good man. Another proverbial expression. Stee- 
vens quotes the old morality of Lusty Juventus : — 

" He wyl say, that God is a good Man, 
He can make him no better, and say the best he can ; " 

A Mery Geste of Robin Hoode : " For God is hold a righteous 
man ; " Burton, Anat. of Melancholy : " God is a good man, and 
will doe no harme," etc. 

53. Suffigance. That is, sufficient. 

60. Lnkhom. The ancient equivalent of the modern inkstand, 
being made of horn. 

61. Examine those. The folio reading ; the quarto has " ex- 
amination these." White remarks : "The blunder in the quarto 
is entirely out of place in Dogberry's mouth ; it is not of the sort 
which S. has made characteristic of his mind. Dogberry mistakes 
the significance of words, but never errs in the forms of speech ; 
he is not able to discriminate between sounds that are like without 
being the same, but he is never at fault in grammar ; and this 
putting of a substantive into his mouth for a verb is entirely at 
variance with his habit of thought, and confounds his cacology 
with that which is of quite another sort." It may be added that 



200 Notes [Act iv 

Dogberry has used the verb correctly in 48 above. Wright and 
Furness, however, prefer the quarto reading. 

64. Here 'j that, etc. He touches his head as he speaks. 

Non-come. He confounds non-coinpos with non-plus. 



ACT IV 



Scene I. — 6. No. Miss Cecilia O'Brien (" Shakespeare's 
Young Men," in the Westminster Review, Oct. 1876) classes 
Claudio with Tybalt and Laertes. She says : " The young men of 
the fifth type . . . have all certain good points, but they are un- 
balanced men, and easily hurried into excesses through over-confi- 
dence in their own judgment. Tybalt, Claudio, and Laertes belong 
to this class, and they have all the same peculiarity. They are so 
fully persuaded of the justice and right of their own ideas that 
they take any means to gain their object, quite disregarding the 
cruelty, treachery, or meanness which they perpetrate. . . . Claudio 
is an accomplished and gallant gentleman, much liked by his 
friends, and really attached to Hero ; but he is so bent on aveng- 
ing his own fancied wrong, so sure that he has the right to do so, 
that he quite ignores the cruel injustice of condemning his bride 
unheard. There is no real sense of justice about any of this class ; 
their feeling of honour is touched, and they are wild for revenge, 
but they do not care how unjustly they get it. There is a little 
touch of affectation about Claudio, not so strong as in Tybalt ; 
but Don John talks of ' the exquisite Claudio,' and Benedick jeers 
at his fantastical language and the love of finery which he develops 
after falling in love." Of Benedick, on the other hand, she says : 
" Benedick tries hard to appear to have neither heart nor feeling, 
but they come out in spite of him. His mocking laugh dies into 
silence when people are in real trouble ; he cannot resist trying to 
take Hero's part, and believes in her innocence more readily than 
her own father. ... It is curious with what cool contempt he treats 



Scene I] Notes 20 1 

Claudio when Beatrice makes him quarrel with him, as if there 
had been a lurking feeling in his mind that a weak nature was 
concealed under his friend's taking exterior." 

12. If either of you know, etc. Douce remarks : " This is bor- 
rowed from our Marriage Ceremony, which (with a few slight 
changes in phraseology) is the same as was used in the time of 
Shakespeare." 

23. Some be of laughing, etc. A quotation from the old gram- 
mars. Cf. Lyly, Endyinion, 1 591, where one of the characters ex- 
claims " Heyho ! " " What 's that? " another asks ; and the reply 
is: "An interjection, whereof some are of mourning: as eho, vah" 

24. Stand thee. See on iii. 1. 1 above. 

30. Render. Give. Cf. A. Y. I. i. 2. 21: "What he hath 
taken away from thy father perforce, I will render thee again in 
affection," etc. 

31. learn. Teach. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 365: "For learning me 
your language," etc. 

38. Comes not, etc. Is not that modest blush the evidence of 
artless innocence? 

42. luxurious. Lustful ; as in Macb. iv. 3. 58, etc. It is the 
only sense in which S. uses either the adjective or the noun. 

45. Knit. Cf. M. N. D. i. I. 172: "By that which knitteth 
souls and prospers loves ; " Cymb. ii. 3. 122: "to knit their souls," 
etc. For approved, see on ii. 1. 376 above. 

46. In your own proof. In your own trial of her. Dear is a 
dissyllable. 

48. Defeat. Ruin, destruction. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 107 : " Mak- 
ing defeat on the full power of France ; " Ham. ii. 2. 598 : — 

" Upon whose property and most dear life 
A damn'd defeat was made." 

50. large. Free, licentious. Cf. ii. 3. 197 above: "large 
jests." 

54. Out on thee ! Seeming ! The old eds. have " Out on thee 



202 Notes [Act IV 

seeming, I will," etc. Pope and many others read " Out on thy 
seeming ! " But the change in the pointing seems to justify the 
old reading. 

I will write against it, etc. Cf. Cymb. ii. 5. 32: — 

" I '11 write against them, 
Detest them, curse them." 

55. Seem. Hanmer changed this to " seem'd ; " but, as Furness 
remarks, " here, before the very eyes of Claudio, Hero stands, not 
in the past but in the present, as pure as moonlight, and the very 
type of chastity, and in the rosy tint which catches his eye we see 
the deepening blush of indignation on her cheek." Orb refers to 
the crystalline sphere of the Ptolemaic astronomy in which the 
moon (Dian) was fixed and carried round. Cf. Ham. iv. 7. 15: 
"as the star moves not but in his [its] sphere." See also Temp. 
ii. I. 183, M. N. D. ii. 1. 7, 153, iii. 2. 61, K. John, v. 7. 74, 
etc. 

56. As is the bud. "Before the air has tasted its sweetness" 
(Johnson). 

60. Wide. Wide of the mark, far from the truth. Cf. T. and 
C. iii. 1. 97: "you are wide," etc. 

62. Gone about. Endeavoured. Cf. i. 3. 1 1 above. 

63. Stale. See on ii. 2. 25 above. 

64. Are these things, etc. Cf. Macb. i. 3. 83 : " Were such things 
here as we do speak about ? " 

66. Nuptial. S. uses only the singular in this sense 9 except in 
Per. v. 3. 80. 

True! O God! This certainly refers to what Don John has 
just said. Some eds. print " True, O God ! " as if it were a reply 
to Benedick. 

71. Move one question. Cf. T. and C. ii. 3. 89: "We dare not 
move the question of our place." 

72. Kindly. Natural. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 5. 84 : " kindly tears," 
etc. In A. and C. ii. 5. 78, " kindly creatures " = such as the 



Scene I] Notes 203 

land naturally produces. Cf. " kindly fruits of the earth " in the 
Prayer-Book, 

90. Liberal. Licentious in speech. Cf. Ham. iv. 7. 171 : " liberal 
shepherds," etc. 

91. Encounters. Meetings. See on iii. 3. 150 above. 
94. Spoke. We have had spoken in 64 above. 

96. Without, etc. An Alexandrine. 

97. Misgovernment. Want of self-control, misconduct. S. uses 
the word only here, but he has misgoverning in the same sense in 
R. of L. 654. On thy much, cf. M. for M. v. I. 534: "thy much 
goodness," etc. See also Matthew, vi. 7. 

98. What a Hero, etc. Johnson says : " I am afraid here is 
intended a poor conceit upon the word Hero ; " but this is very 
improbable. 

104. Conjecture. Suspicion. Cf. W. T.\\. I. 176: "as gross 
as ever touch'd conjecture ; " Ham. iv. 5. 15 : — 

11 she may strew 
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds." 

106. Gracious. Lovely, attractive; as in T. N. i. 5. 281, K. 
John, iii. 4. 81, 96, etc. The word is here a trisyllable ; as in 
Sonn. 135. 7. 

no. Smother her spirits up. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 5. 20 : "To smother 
up the English," etc. 

115. May. Can. See on ii. 3. 22 above, and cf. iii. 2. 115: 
" May this be so ? " 

121. The story, etc. "That is, the story which her blushes 
discover to be true" (Johnson). Schmidt takes blood to be 
used in the same sense as in ii. 1. 178 above. Seymour objects 
to the former explanation that Hero had fainted ; but we find 
the Friar afterwards referring to the " thousand blushing ap- 
paritions " he had noted in her face, and this may be a similar 
reference. 

124. Spirits. Monosyllabic, as often. 



204 Notes [Act iv 

125. On the rearward. Cf. Sonn. 90. 6: "In the rearward of a 
conquer'd woe." See also 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 339. 

127. Chid. Similarly followed by at in T. G. of V. ii. I. 78, 
A. Y. L. iii. 5. 129, W. T. iv. 4. 6, etc. Elsewhere it is followed 
by with; as in Sonn. in. 1, (?//£. iv. 2. 167, and Cymb. v. 4. 32. 

Frame. " Order, disposition of things" (Steevens). Schmidt, 
less happily, makes frame = mould (as in W. T. ii. 3. 103), and 
explains the passage, " Did I grumble against the niggardness of 
nature's casting-mould ?" 

128. One too much by thee ! Cf. T. G. of V, v. 4. 52 : " too much 
by one." 

131. Took. S. uses taken (or to 1 en) and took for the participle. 

132. Who smirched. Who being smirched, if she were smirched. 
For smirched, cf. iii. 3. 136 above. Mir^d — soiled. Used again 
as a verb (= sink in mud) in 7\ofA.iv. 3. 147: "Paint till a 
horse may mire upon your face." Halliwell-Phillipps cites Pals- 
grave, Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse, 15 30: "I myar, I 
beraye with myar; the poore man is my red up to the knees ; " and 
Taylor, Workes, 1 630 : — 

" I was well entred (forty winters since) 
As farre as possum in my Accidence ; 
And reading but from possum to posset, 
There was I mir'd, and could no further get." 

136. Proud on. On and of are often interchanged. See on 
iii. 5. 23 above. 

138. Valuing of her. Estimating what she was to me. 

139. That. So that ; as often. On the passage, cf. Macb. ii. 
6.60: — 

" Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 
Clean from my hand ? " 

141. Season. For the metaphor, which S. was fond of, cf. A. W. 
i. 1. 55 : "'Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise in ; " 
T. N.\. 1. 30:— 



Scene I] Notes 205 

" all this to season 
A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh 
And lasting in her sad remembrance ; " 

R. and. J. ii. 3. 72 : — 

" How much salt water thrown away in waste, 
To season love, that of it doth not taste ! " 

See also L. C. 18. 

143. Attired in wonder. Cf. R. of L. 1601 : " Why art thou thus 
attir'd in discontent ? " T. N. iv. ^. ^: " 't is wonder that enwraps 
me thus." 

153. Washed. That is, he washed. The ellipsis of the nomina- 
tive is common when it is easily applied. 

154. Hear me, etc. In the early eds. this and the three follow- 
ing lines are printed as prose, and " been silent " is given for silent 
been. Wright joins By noting of the lady to what follows. 

156. And given way, etc. And let these things take their 
course. 

157. By noting. From noting ; because I have been noting or 
observing. This is no unusual sense of by, though Wright seems 
to think so. Schmidt (under by) gives many instances of "the 
idea of instrumentality passing into that of causality." Furness 
quotes Matzner to the same effect. 

158. Apparitions. Metrically equivalent to five syllables. 

159. Shames. For the plural, cf. A. and C. i. 4. 72: — 

" Let his shames quickly 
Drive him to Rome." 

160. Bear. The folio reading, and preferable to the "beate" 
of the quarto, though some editors adopt the latter. 

162. To burn the errors. Steevens compares R. and J. i. 2. 93 : 

" When the devout religion of mine eye 

Maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires ; 
And these, who often drown'd could never die, 
Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars 1 " 



206 Notes [Act iv 

165. Which with experimental seal, etc. That is, his observa- 
tions confirm what he has learned by his reading. Book, which 
some would change to " books," simply repeats reading. 

Doth warrant, etc. That is, confirm what I have read. 

169. Biting. Often used metaphorically by S. Cf. M. W. v. 5. 
178: "a biting affliction;" M. for M. i. 3. 19: "most biting 
laws," etc. 

172. Not denies. Cf. Temp. ii. I. 121 : "I not doubt ; " Id. v. 

1. 38: "Whereof the ewe not bites," etc. See also v. 1. 22 below: 
" they themselves not feel." 

175. What man, etc. Warburton sees great subtlety in this 
question. No man's name had been mentioned ; but had Hero 
been guilty it was very probable that she would not have observed 
this, and might therefore have betrayed herself by giving the name. 
I suspect, however, that there is more of Warburton than of 
Shakespeare in this explanation. 

184. Misprision. Misapprehension, mistake. Cf. M. N, D, iii. 

2. 90 : — 

" Of thy misprision must perforce ensue 
Some true love turn'd, and not a false turn'd true." 

185. The very bent of honour. The utmost degree of honour 
(Johnson). Cf. ii. 3. 204 above: "her affections have their full 
bent." The metaphor is taken from the bending of a bow. Fur- 
ness quotes the New Eng. Diet., which defines bent as the " extent 
to which a bow may be bent, . . . degree of tension ; hence 
degree of endurance, capacity for taking in or receiving ; limit 
of capacity," etc. Schmidt makes bent here = inclination, disposi- 
tion (as in B. and J. ii. 2. 143,/. C. ii. 1. 210, etc.), but the other 
meaning is more appropriate and more forcible. 

186. Wisdoms. A common use of the plural in S. when more 
than one person is referred to. 

187. Practice. Plotting, trickery ; as in M. for M. v. I. 107, 
123, 239, etc, Walker puts this among the passages in which live 



Scene I] Notes 207 

and lie were probably confounded by the old printers, but S. may 
have written lives. 

188. Frame. Framing, devising. 

193. Eat. S. uses both eat and eaten for the participle. 
Cf. notes on 94 and 131 above. Invention — mental activity 
(Schmidt); as in Oth. iv. I. 201 : "of so high and plenteous wit 
and invention," etc. The word is here a quadrisyllable. See on 
apparitions, 158 above. 

196. In such a kind. Cf. ii. I. 68 above: "in that kind." 
Some would change kind to " cause " on account of the rhyme, but 
we find another instance of rhyme in 214, 215, where no change has 
been suggested. 

199. To quit me of them. To requite myself in respect of them, 
to be even with them. Cf. Cor. iv. 5. 89: "to be full quit of those 
my banishers ; " T. of S. iii. 1. 92: " Hortensio will be quit with 
thee," etc. 

Throughly. Thoroughly. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 14, Ham. iv. 5. 136, 
etc. See also Matthew, iii. 12. 

204. Ostentation. Similarly used of funeral pomp in Ham. iv. 5. 
215. Elsewhere it is = outward show, without the idea of preten- 
tiousness. Cf. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 54: "all ostentation of sorrow; " 
A. and C. iii. 6. 52 : — 

" The ostentation of our love, which, left unshown, 
Is often left unlov'd," etc. 

In L. L. L. v. 2. 409 (" full of maggot ostentation ") it has its mod- 
ern meaning. Here the word is metrically five syllables. 

206. Hang mournful epitaphs. For the old custom alluded to, 
see on v. 1. 285 below. 

208. What shall become, etc. That is, what will come, etc. Cf. 
T. N. ii. 2. 37 : " What will become of this ? " (what will be the 
result of this ?), etc. 

209. Well carried. Cf. M. N. A iii. 2. 240 : " This sport, well 
carried, shall be chronicled." See on carry, ii. 3. 214 above. 



208 Notes [Act iv 

210. Remorse. Pity; as very often. 

218. Whiles. Used interchangeably with while as a conjunction, 
but never as a noun. Some would transpose lacked and lost ; but 
lacked does not mean missed, but missing, wanting. Cf. M. of V. i. 
I. 3J, M. N. D. ii. I. 223, etc. Even if it were a case of what the 
rhetoricians call " hysteron-proteron " (a figure recognized by Put- 
tenham in his Arte of English Poesie, 1589), other examples are to 
be found in S. 

219. Rack. Stretch, strain, exaggerate. Cf. M. of V. i. 1. 1 81 : — 

11 Try what my credit can in Venice do ; 
That shall be rack'd, even to the uttermost," etc. 

222. Upon. In consequence of. Cf. v. I. 251 below: "And 
fled he is upon this villany." See also ii. 3. 210 above. 

223. Idea. Image. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 7. 13 : — • 

" Withal I did infer your lineaments, 
Being the right idea of your father; " 

I. L. I. iv. 2. 69 : " forms, figures, shapes, objects, ideas," etc. 
S. uses the word only three times. 

224. Study. Schmidt takes this to be a figurative use of study 
= a room for study, and compares Sonn. 24. 7 : " my bosom's 
shop ; " but study of imagination may be simply = imaginative 
study, imaginative reflections. 

227. Moving- delicate. The hyphen is not in the early eds., and 
some modern ones omit it. 

228. Eye and prospect. Cf. K.John, ii. I. 208 : "Before the eye 
and prospect of your town." 

230. liver. Anciently supposed to be the seat of love. Cf. 
R. of I. 47, Temp. iv. 1. 56, M. W. ii. 1. 1 21, A. Y. L. iii. 2. 443, 
T. N. ii. 4. 101, ii. 5. 106, etc. 

232. No, though he thought, etc. " A line instinct with touching 
knowledge of human charity. Pity attends the faults of the dead ; 
and survivors visit sin with regret rather than reproach" (Clarke). 

233. Success. That which is to succeed or follow, the issue. Cf. 



Scene I] Notes 209 

A. and C. iii. 5.6: " What is the success ? " 2 Hen. VI. ii. 2. 46 : 
" things ill-got had ever bad success ; " T. and C. ii. 2. 117 : " bad 
success in a bad cause," etc. 

236. LevelPd. Technically = aimed ; as in Z. C. 282, Rich. III. 
iv. 4. 202, etc. .Zto this refers to what follows ; as would be evi- 
dent if it were at the end of the line (Furness) . 

239. Sort. Fall out, result. Cf. v. 4. 7 below : " all things sort 
so well." See also M. N. D. iii. 2. 352, Ham. i. 1. 109 etc. 

241. Reclusive. Used by S. nowhere else. 

242. Injuries. Injurious treatment or comment. 

243. Advise. That is, prevail upon by advice, persuade. Cf. 
Lear, v. 1. 2 : " he is advis'd by aught," etc. 

244. Imvardness. Confidence, intimacy. The noun is used by 
S. only here, but we have inward = confidential in Z. Z. Z. v. 1. 
102 : "what is inward between us," etc. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 4. 8 : 
"inward with the royal duke." So the noun inwards confiden- 
tial friend in M. for M. iii. 2. 138 : "I was an inward of his." 

248. Being that. Since. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 1. 199 : "being 
you are to take soldiers," etc. Daniel's suggestion of " float " for 
flow is very plausible. 

249. The smallest twine, etc. Johnson remarks : " This is one 
of our author's observations upon life. Men overpowered with dis- 
tress eagerly listen to the first offers of relief, close with every 
scheme, and believe every promise. He that has no longer any 
confidence in himself is glad to repose his trust in any other that 
will undertake to guide him." 

250. Presently. See on i. 1. 88 above. 

251. To strange sores, etc. Cf. Ham. iv. iii. 9 : — 

" diseases desperate grown 
By desperate appliance are relieved, 
Or not at all." 

253. Prolonged. Postponed ; as in Rich. Ill iii. 4. 47. See 
also Ezekiel, xii. 25. 

MUCH ADO — 14 



210 Notes [Act iv 

264. Even. Plain. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 2 : " Give even way 
unto my rough affairs." 

265. May. Can. See on ii. 3. 22 above. 

274. By my sivord. On swearing by the sword, cf. Ham. i. 5. 
147, W. T. ii. 3. 168, Rich. II. i. 3. 179, etc. 

278. Eat your word. Cf. A. Y. L. v. 4. 155 and the play upon 
the phrase in 2 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 149. 

289. Kill Claudio. Not an " outburst of vindictiveness," as often 
interpreted ; but due to her feeling that " if her lover's protestation 
be sincere, he must, were it at the cost of all other friendship in the 
world, show himself that champion of her own peace, her cousin's 
fame, and her family's reputation, which he has constituted him- 
self by that very avowal" (Fletcher). Furness remarks that this 
interpretation "cannot be too strongly commended." 

291. To deny it. By refusing it; the "indefinite use" of the 
infinitive. 

293. / am gone, though I am here. As Beatrice is about to go, 
Benedick seizes and detains her ; she tries in vain to escape, and 
says, " My heart is absent, though I am present in body." As 
Halliwell-Phillipps remarks, this is very effective on the stage. 

301. Approved. Proved. See on ii. 1. 376 above. In the height 
— in the highest degree. Cf. C. of E. v. 1. 200 : "Even in the 
strength and height of injury." So to the height and at the height ; 
as in Hen. VIII. i. 2. 214 : " to the height a traitor ; " A. Y. I. v. 
2. 50 : " at the height of heart-heaviness," etc. 

303. Bear her in hand. Keep her in expectation, flatter her 
with false hopes. Cf. T. of S. iv. 2. 3, Macb. iii. I. 80, Ham. iii. 2. 
67, Cymb. v. 5. 43, etc. 

306. / would eat, etc. Steevens quotes Chapman, Iliad, xxii. : — 

" Hunger for slaughter, and a hate that eates thy heart to eate 
Thy foe's heart/' 

So Hecuba {Iliad, xxiv.), speaking of Achilles, expresses a wish to 
use her teeth on his liver. 



Scene I] Notes 211 

310. Proper, Often used in this ironical way. Cf. i. 3. 50 above : 
"A proper squire !" 

315. Counties, See on ii. 1. 186 above. 

316. Count, Count Comfect. The quarto reads " counte, counte 
comfect;" the folio, " Counte, comfect." Count Comfect is used in 
derision, like " My Lord Lollipop " (Staunton). White sees a play 
upon both count and confect. " Her wit and her anger working to- 
gether, she at once calls Claudio's accusation ' a goodly conte con- 
fect,' that is, a story made up, and him ' a count confect,' that is, a 
nobleman of sugar candy ; for he was plainly a pretty fellow and a 
dandy ; and then she clenches the nail that she has driven home by 
adding * a sweet gallant, surely ! ' This sense of the passage . . . 
is further evident from the inter-dependence of the whole exclama- 
tion, * Surely a princely testimony, a goodly count? — the first part 
of which would be strangely out of place if there were no pun in the 
second. In Shakespeare's time the French title Count was pro- 
nounced like conte or compte, meaning a fictitious story, a word which 
was then in common use." But, as Furness remarks, such interpre- 
tations seem too fine-spun; "while it is impossible to deny them, 
it is hard to assent to them." For myself, I think that S. would often 
smile at what over-ingenious commentators " read into " his writings. 

319. Courtesies. Mere forms of courtesy. Here both quarto and 
folio have " cursies," which Halliwell-Phillipps believes to be an old 
form used only in the sense of obeisance, or the outward manifesta- 
tion of courtesy. See on ii. 1. 54 above. The curtsy was formerly 
used by men as well as women. Cf. Rich, III, i. 3. 49 : " Duck with 
French nods and apish courtesy ; " L. L, L. i. 2. 66 : "a new-devised 
courtesy ; " A, W. v. 3. 324 : " Let thy courtesies alone ; they are 
scurvy ones," etc. 

321. Trim. The word, like proper (see on 310 above) is often 
used ironically. Cf. I, I, I, v. 2. 363: "Trim gallants; " M, N. 
D. iii. 2. 157: "A trim exploit," etc. Ones = tongues ; such 
change from singular to plural being not uncommon in Elizabethan 
English. Cf. Sonn. 78. 3 : — 



2 1 2 Notes [Act IV 

" As every alien pen hath got my use, 
And under thee their poesy disperse;" 

where the plural in their and in the subject of disperse is implied in 
every pen. 

333. Engaged. Pledged ; that is, to challenge him. 

335. A dear account. One that will cost him dear. Wright com- 
pares R. and J. i. 5. 120 : "O dear account! My life is my foe's 
debt." 

Scene II. — Enter . . . in gowns. The gowns of constables are 
often alluded to in writers of the time. Malone quotes The Blacke 
Booke, 1604: "when they mist their constable, and sawe the blacke 
govvne of his office lye full in a puddle." 

I. This speech is assigned to "Keeper" in the early eds. (see on 
ii» 3* 37 above), and " Kemp " is prefixed to most of the speeches of 
Dogberry in the remainder of the scene, as "Cowley" or "Couley" 
is to those of Verges. In line 4, however, we find "Andrew" a 
name that cannot be identified with that of any comic actor of the 
time ; but perhaps it was the familiar appellation of some one of 
them. Some suppose it to be a nickname of Kemp from his play- 
ing the part of Merry Andrew. 

5. Exhibition to examine. Perhaps a blunder for "examination 
to exhibit," as Steevens explains it. 

18-21. Yea, sir, . . . such villains ! Found in the quarto, but 
omitted in the^olio. As Theobald, who restored the passage to the 
text, remarks, " it supplies a defect, for without it the town-clerk 
asks a question of the prisoners, and goes on without staying for 
any answer to it." Blackstone believes that the omission was made 
on occount of the statute of James I. forbidding the use of the 
name of God on the stage. 

20. Defend. Forbid. See on ii. 1. 94 above. 

27. I zvill go about with him. "I will go to work with him, he 
shall find his match in me " (Schmidt). See on i. 3. 11 above. 

31. They are both in a tale. "They both say the same" 



Scene II] Notes 213 

(Schmidt) . " Dogberry had heard of getting at the truth by separate 
examination, and sagaciously asking a question to which they could 
not but both give the same answer, expresses his surprise at the 
failure of his wise experiment. The humour of the observation is 
admirable " (Pye). 

37. Eftest. Quickest, readiest. Theobald changed it to " deft- 
est," and Steevens thought that it was meant to be a blunder for 
that word. Deftly occurs in Macb. iv. 1. 68. 

53. By the mass, Halliwell-Phillipps remarks that this oath was 
then going out of fashion, and is therefore appropriately put into 
the mouth of Verges — "a good old man, sir." But, as Wright 
notes, Borachio uses it (iii. 3. 98). Cf. Sir John Harrington, Epi- 
grams, 1633: — 

11 In elder times an ancient custome was, 
To sweare in weighty matters by the Masse ; 
But when the masse went downe (as old men note) 
They sw T ore then by the crosse of this same grote ; 
And when the Crosse was likewise held in scorne, 
Then, by their faith, the common oath was sworne. 
Last, having sworne away all faith and troth, 
Onely God-damne them is their common oath. 
Thus custome kept decorum by gradation, 
That losing Masse, Crosse, Faith, they find damnation." 

65. Upon. In consequence of. See on iv. 1. 222 above. 

70. Let them , etc. The quarto reads: " Couley. Let them be in 
the hands of coxcombe." The folio has " Sex. Let them be in 
the hands of Coxcombe." The reading in the text is Malone's, who 
also suggested — 

11 Verges. Let them be in the hands of — 
Conrade. Coxcomb ! " 

There is not much to choose between these two emendations. The 
Cambridge editors suggest that Let them be in the hands " may be 
the corruption of a stage-direction [Let them bind them~\ or [Let 
them bind their hands~\" 



214 Notes [Act v 

74. Naughty. Formerly used in a much stronger sense than at 
present. Cf. Lear, iii. 3. 37: "Naughty lady! " (Goneril). 

77. My years. Mr. Weiss, in quoting this passage, gives "my 
ears," but as I find no authority for that reading, I take it to be a 
misprint ; Dogberry could hardly have confounded words so famil- 
iar as years and ears. 

84. Piece of flesh. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 68 : "a good piece of flesh 
indeed! " T. N. i. 5. 30 : "as witty a piece of Eve's flesh as any 
in Illyria ; " Z. L. L. iii. 1. 136 : " My sweet ounce of man's flesh ! " 

87. Losses. Some critics who do not see the humour of making 
Dogberry boast of his " losses " as well as his " riches,'' have pro- 
posed " leases," " law-suits," etc., as emendations. 



ACT V 



Scene I. — 6. Comforter. The quarto reading. The 1st folio 
misprints " comfort." 

7. Suit. Agree, coincide. Cf. T. N. i. 2. 50 : — 

" I will believe thou hast a mind that suits 
With this thy fair and outward character." 

10. Patience is probably a trisyllable, as in 19 and 272 below. 
12. Strain. Feeling, emotion. Cf. Sonn. 90. 13: "strains of 

woe ; " T. and C. ii. 2. 154 : — 

" Can it be 
That so degenerate a strain as this 
Should once set footing in your generous bosoms? " 

See also Cor. v. 3. 149, T. cf A. iv. 3. 213, etc. 

14. Lineament. White says : " pronounced properly in three 
syllables." Dogberry might have pronounced it so. 

15. Stroke his beard. Dr. Ingleby compares T. and C. i. 3. 165 : 
"Now play me Nestor ; hem, and stroke thy beard! " 

16. Bid sorrow wag, etc. This is the great crux of the play. 



Scene I] Notes 215 

The quarto and folio read : " And, sorrow, wagge, crie hem," etc. 
CapelPs emendation in the text is perhaps as satisfactory as any 
that has been proposed, and is adopted by the majority of editors. 
Many other emendations have been suggested. For wag — be- 
gone, cf. M. W. i. 3. 7 : " let them wag ; trot, trot." See also Id. 
ii. I. 238, ii. 3. 74, 101 ; and cf. T. A. v. 2. 87 : — 

11 For well I wot the empress never wags 
But in her company there is a Moor." 

18. Candle-wasters. Those who sit up late, " burning the mid- 
night oil ; " but whether in revelry or in study has been matter of 
dispute. Schmidt favours the latter, making the passage = " drown 
grief with the wise saws of pedants and book-worms." Ingleby 
also explains it, " drown one's troubles in study." "Whalley quotes 
Jonson, Cynthia^s Revels, iii. 2 : " Spoiled by a whoreson book- 
worm, a candle-waster." Lamp-wasters is similarly used in The 
Antiquary, iii. 

19. Patience. A trisyllable, as in 272 below; but in 27 it is a 
dissyllable. 

23. Passion. Emotion, sorrow. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 392 : " Allay- 
ing both their fury and my passion; " I. L. L. v. 2. 118 : "pas- 
sion's solemn tears," T. A. i. I. 106 : "A mother's tears in passion 
for her son," etc. 

24. Preceptial medicine. The medicine of precept or counsel. 
Cf. i. 3. 11 above : " a moral medicine." 

28. Wring. Writhe ; as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 253 : — 

" Whose sense no more can feel 
But his own wringing; " 

and Cymb. iii. 6. 79 : " He wrings at some distress." 

30. Moral. Ready to moralize. Cf. Lear, iv. 2. 58 : "a moral 
fool." Schmidt makes it an adjective with this sense in A. Y. L. 
ii. 7. 29 : — 



2 1 6 Notes [Act v 

" When I did hear 
The motley fool thus moral on the time; " 

but it is more likely a verb = moralize. 

32. Advertisement. Admonition, moral instruction (Johnson). 
Cf. A, W. iv. 3. 240 : " that is an advertisement to a proper maid 
in Florence, one Diana, to take heed; " I Hen. IV. iv. 1. 36 : 
" Yet doth he give us bold advertisement." See also Baret, Alvea- 
rie, 1580 : "A warning and admonition, an advertisement, a coun- 
saile, an advisement or instruction, admonition So the verb = 
counsel, instruct ; as in M. for M. i. 1. 42, v. 1. 388, and Hen. VIII. 
ii. 4. 178. Seymour explains the present passage : "my griefs are 
too violent to be expressed in words." 

37. The style of gods. "An exalted language, such as we may 
suppose would be written by beings superior to human calamities" 
(Steevens). Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, Four Plays in One : — 

" Athens doth make women philosophers, 
And sure their children chat the talk of gods." 

^8. Push. Rowe changed this to " pish," and Schmidt makes it 
an interjection = " pshaw, pish ; " as in T. of A. iii. 6. 119 : " Push ! 
did you see my cap ? " Boswell considers ?nade a push at = con- 
tended against, defied ; and cites from L'Estrange, "Away he goes, 
makes his push, stands the shock of battle," etc. Cf. push = on- 
set, attack, in J. C. v. 2. 5 : " And sudden push gives them the 
overthrow," etc. To me it seems absurd to regard push as the 
exclamation. Wright objects to Boswell's explanation that the phi- 
losophers treated accident and suffering with " indifference or con- 
tempt." Yes, that was the philosophers' way of "contending 
against or defying" them. Or, we may say that making a push at 
them is = thrusting them contemptuously aside. Cf. daff me in 78 
below. 

Sufferance = suffering ; as in Sonn. 58. 7, M. W. iv. 2. 2, 2 Hen. 
IV. v. 4. 28, T. and C. i. i. 28, etc. 



Scene I] Notes 21 J 

46. Good den. See on iii. 2. 79 above. 

55. Be shrew. A mild form of imprecation. 

58. Fleer, Grin, sneer. Palsgrave defines it thus : " I fleere, I 
make an yvell countenaunce with the mouthe by uncoveryng of the 
tethe." Cf. R. and J. i. 5. 59 : "To fleer and scorn at our solem- 
nity." See also L. L. I. v. 2. 109 and/. C. i. 3. 117. 

62. To thy head. Forby, in his East Anglian Vocabulary, says : 
" We say, I told him so to his head, not to his face, which is the 
usual phrase." 

64. Reverence. That is, the " privilege of age " mentioned just 
above. 

65. Bruise of many days. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 1. 100 : "the 
bruises of the days before ;" and R. and J. ii. 3. 37: " unbruised 
youth." 

66. Trial of a man. Manly combat. For trial in this sense, 
cf. Rich. II. i. 1. 81, 151, i. 3. 99, iv. 1. 56, 71, 90, 106, etc. 

71. Framed. Devised, fabricated. Cf. the use of the noun in 
iv. I. 188 above. 

75. Fence. Skill in fencing ; as in 84 just below. In 3 Hen. 
VI. iv. I. 44 (" fence impregnable ") it means defence. Cf. the 
use of the verb = defend, in Id. iii. 3. 98 : " fence the right." 

76. May of youth. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 120: "the very May-morn 
of his youth." lustihood — spirit, vigour. Cf. T. and C. ii. 2. 50: 
"lustihood deject." See also Spenser, F. Q. iii. 10. 45: "All day 
they daunced with great lusty-hedd ; " Shep. Kal. May : " In 
lustihede and wanton meryment ; " Muiopotmos, 61 : "Yong 
Clarion, with vauntfull lustie-head," etc. 

77. Away! I will not have to do with you. Here again 
Claudio's behaviour is unfeeling. "The prince, who is only an 
acquaintance of the father Leonato and his brother Antonio, 
nevertheless manifests a gentlemanly consideration and even ten- 
derness in their family disaster ; but Claudio is wholly untouched 
by the anguish of the old men at the loss of their child (she his 
own mistress too !) and at the stain upon their house. He has no 



2 1 8 Notes [Act v 

word of sympathy or commiseration ; he wraps himself up in con- 
tempt of their aged and feeble defiance ; and immediately after 
they have gone out, upon Benedick's entering, he jests upon the 
danger that he and the prince have escaped of having their * noses 
snapped off with two old men without teeth' " (Clarke). 

78. Daff. Put off, put aside. See on ii. 3. 168 above. 

80. He shall kill, etc. " This brother Antony is the truest 
picture imaginable of human nature. He had assumed the charac- 
ter of a sage to comfort his brother, overwhelmed with grief for his 
only daughter's affront and dishonour ; and had severely reproved 
him for not commanding his passion better on so trying an occa- 
sion. Yet, immediately after this, no sooner does he begin to sus- 
pect that his age and valour are slighted, but he falls into the most 
intemperate fit of rage himself. . . . This is copying nature with a 
penetration and exactness of judgment peculiar to Shakespeare " 
(Warburton). 

82. Win me and wear me. " Proverbial = let him laugh that 
wins ; originally = win me and have or enjoy me " (Schmidt). Cf. 
Hen. V. v. 2. 250 : " thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst ; 
and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better," etc. 
See also ii. 1. 326 above. 

84. Foining. A term in fencing = thrusting. Cf. M. W. ii. 3. 
24: "To see thee fight, to see thee foin." See also 2 Hen. IV. ii. 
i. 17 and ii. 4. 252. We have foin as a noun (= thrust) in Lear, 
iv. 6. 251. So in Cotgrave's Fr. Diet.: "Coup d'estoc, a thrust, 
foine, stockado, stab." 

Sy. Content yourself. Compose yourself, keep your temper ; as 
in T. of S. i. 1. 90, 203, ii. 1. 343, T. and C. iii. 2. 151, etc. 

91. Jacks. Often used as a term of contempt. Cf. M. of V. iii. 
4. 77 : " these bragging Jacks ; " I Hen. IV. iii. 3. 99 : " the prince 
is a Jack, a sneak-cup," etc. See also i. 1. 185 above. 

94. Scambling. Scrambling, shifty. Cf. Hen. V. i. I. 4, v. 2. 
218, etc. Outfacing — facing the matter out, impudent. Cf. 
A. Y. L. i. 3. 124: — 



Scene I] Notes 219 

"As many other mannish cowards have 
That do outface it with their semblances." 

Fashion-mo nging. Foppish. We have fashion-monger in R. and 

J. ii. 4. 34. Halliwell-Phillipps cites Wilson, Coblers Prop : iecie. 
1594: "the money-monging mate with all his knaverie." 

95. Cog. "To deceive, especially by smooth lies" (Schmidt'. 
Cf. M. W. iii. 3. 76 : "I cannot cog, and say thou art this and that, 
like a many of these lisping hawthorn-buds, that come like women 
in men's apparel," etc. See also Rich. III. i. 3. 48, T. ana C. v. 6. 
11, T. of A. v. 1. 98, etc. For flout, see on i. 1. 162 above. De- 
prave — slander. Cf. T. of A. i. 2. 145: "Who lives that 's not 
depraved or depraves ? " So depravation = detraction in T. and 
C. v. 2. 132. 

96. Anticly. Spelt "'antiquely'' in the early eds., which use 
antique and antick interchangeably without regard to the meaning. 
Outward hideousness — "what in Hen. J\ iii. 6. Si is called 'a 
horrid suit of the camp ' " (Steevens). 

97. Off. The early eds. have u of ; " corrected by Theobald. 
Dangerous = threatening. 

102. Wake. Rouse, excite. Cf. Rich. II. i. 3. 132: "To wake 
our peace." See also Rich. III. i. 3. 2S8. Wright thinks this may 
be ironical, as " Leonato and his brother had shown no signs of 
patience." I suspect that waking patience suggested to S. the 
idea of changing it to impatience; or will not — have no wish to. 

105. Full of proof Fully proved. Cf. "full of rest" in I Hen. 
IV. iv. 3. 27 and/. C. iv. 3. 202, etc. 

114. Almost a fray. Rowe omitted almost^ but the repetition is 
quite in Shakespeare's manner. 

115. Had like to have had. Come near having. For with — by, 
cf. ii. I. 62, etc. 

119. I doubt. I suspect. Cf. M. ]V. i. 4. 42: "'I doubt he be 
not well,'- etc. 

120. In a false quarrel, etc. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 233: 
"Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just." etc. 



220 Notes [Act V 

123. High-proof. In a high degree ; used. by S. only here. 

129. As we do the minstrels. Schmidt makes draw = draw the 
bow of a riddle ; others (more probably) = draw the instruments 
from their cases. For pleasure, cf. M. W. i. 1. 251 : "what I do 
is to pleasure you; " M. of V. i. 3. 7: "will you pleasure me ?" 
etc. 

132. Care killed a cat. A familiar old proverb. Cf. Jonson, 
Every Man in His Humour, i. 3 : " hang sorrow, care '11 kill a 
cat," etc. 

135. In the career, etc. The metaphor is taken from the tilting- 
field, and is carried out by Claudio in his reply. 

138. Staff, Lance ; as in Macb. v. 3. 48, v. 7. 18, etc. Broke 
cross = broken crosswise, and not by a direct thrust. The former 
was considered disgraceful. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 4. 44-48. 

140. By this light. A common oath. Cf. Temp. ii. 2. 154, iii. 
2. 17, I. I. I. iv. 3. 10, K. John. i. 1. 259, etc. See also v. 4. 92 
below. So "by this good light" {Temp. ii. 2. 147, IV. T. ii. 3. 
182), "by this day and this light" {Hen. V. iv. 8. 66), "God's 
light ! " (2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 142, 159), etc. 

142. To turn his girdle. " Large belts were worn with the 
buckle before, but for wrestling the buckle was turned behind, to 
give the adversary a fairer grasp at the girdle. To turn the buckle 
behind, therefore, was a challenge" (Holt White). Farmer cites 
a letter from Winwood's Memorials, in which Winwood, writing 
from Paris, in 1602, about an affront he received there from an 
Englishman, says : " I said what I spake was not to make him 
angry. He replied, if I were angry, I might turn the buckle of 
my girdle behind me." Cf. Cowley, On the Government of Oliver 
Cromwell : "The next month he swears by the living God, that he 
will turn them out of doors, and he does so in his princely way of 
threatening, bidding them turne the buckles of their girdles behind 
them." Halliwell-Phillipps explains the passage : " you may change 
your temper or humour, alter it to the opposite side. " Some take 
it that the girdle is turned to get at the sword-hilt. 



Scene I] Notes 221 

146. How. In whatever way. Cf. iii. I. 60 above. With what 
— with whatever weapon. 

147. Do me right. Give me satisfaction ; that is, accept my 
challenge. Cf. i. 1. 245 above. Protest — proclaim ; as in Mac b. 
iii. 4. 105, etc. 

155. Capon. Evidently used contemptuously. Schmidt sug- 
gests a play on the word (= cap on, that is, a fool's cap, or cox- 
comb); as in Cymb. ii. I. 25 : " You are cock and capon too ; and 
you crow, cock, with your comb on." Cf. C. of E. iii. 1. 32. 

156. Curiously. Carefully, nicely. Cf. T. of S. iv. 3. 144: "The 
sleeves curiously cut." Naught = good for nothing. The word is 
so spelled in the early eds. when it has this sense, but nought when 
= nothing. 

157. The woodcock was supposed to have no brains, and was 
therefore a popular metaphor for a fool. 

158. Ambles. Used contemptuously ; as in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 60, 
R. and J. i. 4. II, etc. 

163. Just. See on ii. I. 28 above. 

165. A wise gentlema7i. This seems to have been used ironically, 
as wiseacre is now. The irony, however, may be in the way it is 
spoken. 

166. He hath the tongues. He knows foreign languages. Cf. 
T. G. ofV. iv. 1. 33: — 

" 2 Outlaw. Have you the tongues ? 
Valentine. My youthful travel therein made me happy." 

170. Trans-shape. Caricature, "spell backward" (iii. 1. 61 
above). 

172. Properest. Handsomest. Cf. ii. 3. 181 above. 

176. Deadly. Implacably. Adjectives are often used as adverbs, 
especially those ending in -ly. Cf. A. W. v. 3. 117: "thou didst 
hate her deadly;" 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 84: "I hate thee deadly;" 
Cor. ii. 1. 67: "they lie deadly," etc. See also mannerly in ii. 1. 
77 above. 



222 Notes [Act V 

1 79. God saw him, etc. There is an allusion to Genesis, iii. 8. 

181. The savage bull's horns. See i. 1. 263 fol. 

201. In his doublet and hose. That is, without his cloak ; Ma- 
lone suggests, because going to fight a duel. Cf. M. W. iii. 1. 46, 
where Page says to Evans, " In your doublet and hose this raw 
rheumatic day ! " and Evans replies, " There is reasons and causes 
for it," referring to the duel he is about to fight. Boswell believes 
that " the words are probably meant to express what Rosalind in 
A. Y. L. [iii. 2. 400] terms the * careless desolation ' of a lover." 
Perhaps we need not see more in the passage than a hit at Bene- 
dick's being in such profound earnest, having laid aside his wit as 
he might his cloak. 

203. A doctor. A learned man. For to = in comparison to, cf. 
Ham. i. 2. 140: "Hyperion to a satyr," etc. 

204. Soft you. Hold, stop ; as often. 

Let me see. The reading of the folio. The quarto has " let me be." 

Pluck up, etc. Rouse thyself, my heart, and be serious, or think 
seriously. Cf. T. of S. iv. 3. 38 : " Pluck up thy spirits." 

208. Reasons. Some see here a pun on reasons and raisins, as 
in 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 264 : " If reasons were as plenty as black- 
berries." There is no doubt that reasons was pronounced like 
raisins. Cf. the pun on meat (pronounced mate) and maid in T. 
G. of V. i. 2. 68. 

213. Hearken after. Inquire concerning. Cf. Rich. III. i. 1. 
54 : " He hearkens after prophecies and dreams." 

225. Division. Disposition, arrangement ; as in Oth. i. 1. 23: 
" the division of a battle." 

226. Well suited. " That is, one meaning is put into many dif- 
ferent dresses ; the Prince having asked the same question in four 
modes of speech" (Johnson). Cf. Hen. V. iv. 2. 53: "Description 
cannot suit itself in words," etc. 

228. Who. Whom. Cf. i. 1. 213 above. 

229. To your answer. To answer for your conduct ; that is, in 
a legal sense. Cf. Hen. VIII. iv. 2. 18: — 



Scene ij Notes 223 

"Arrested him at York, and brought him forward, 
As a man sorely tainted, to his answer," etc. 

230. Cunning, Knowing, wise. Cf. T. of S. ii. 1. 56 : "Cun- 
ning in music and the mathematics," etc. 

235. Wisdoms. See on iv. 1. 186 above, and cf. Ham. i. 2. 15 : 
"Your better wisdoms," etc. 

238. Incensed. Instigated. Cf. W. T. v. 1. 61 : — 

11 She had, and would incense me 
To murder her I married." 

See also Rich. III. iii. 1. 152, iii. 2. 29, etc. Nares takes the word 
in the present passage, and in Rick. III. to be properly insense ( = 
to put sense into, instruct, inform), "a provincial expression still 
current in Staffordshire, and probably Warwickshire;" but he is 
probably wrong. 

241. Upon. See on iv. I. 222 above, and cf. 251 just below. 

247. Whiles. See on iv. 1. 218 above. 

249. Practice. Plotting. See on iv. I. 187 above. 

250. Compos' d. Wholly made up. Cf. Temp. iii. 1. 9: — 

" O, she is 
Ten times more gentle than her father 's crabbed, 
And he 's compos'd of harshness." 

253. That I lov>d it first. That is, in which I loved it first. The 
preposition is often thus omitted in relative sentences. Cf. v. 2. 
48: "let me go with that I came" (for). 

264. Art thou, etc. The folio has " Art thou thou the slaue," 
and some modern eds. follow it in repeating thou; but this injures 
the metre and does not add to the sense. Furness, however, thinks 
it expresses " astonishment and utmost horror." 

271. Bethink y 'ou of it. Think of it, consider it. Cf. T. X. iii. 
4. 327 : " hath better bethought him of his quarrel ; " Rich. III. 
ii. 2. 96 : — 

" Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother, 
Of the young prince your son," etc. 



224 Notes [Act v 

272. Patience. A trisyllable ; as in 19 above. 

272. Impose me to. Impose on me ; which is elsewhere the 
form of expression in S. Cf. L. L. L. iii. 1. 130: "impose on 
thee nothing but this," etc. 

282. Possess. Inform. Cf. M. of V. \, 3. 65 : " Is he yet pos- 
sess'd How much you would?" 

284. Labour. For the transitive use, cf. Rich. III. i. 4. 253 : 
"That he would labour my delivery," etc. Invention — imagina- 
tion. Cf. Hen. V. prol. 2 : " the brightest heaven of invention," 
etc. The word is here a quadrisyllable. 

285. Hang her an epitaph, etc. It was the custom of the time to 
affix memorial verses to the herse or canopy of black cloth erected 
temporarily over the tomb. Ben Jonson's well-known tribute to 
the Countess of Pembroke, " Underneath this sable hearse," etc., is 
said to have been written for such a purpose. Cf. iv. 1. 206 above. 

291. And she alone, etc. The poet seems to have forgotten that 
he has given Antonio a son in i. 2. 2 above. See on i. 1. 295 above. 
Moreover, Claudio would be likely to know that Hero's uncle had 
no daughter. 

298. Naughty. See on iv. 2. 74 above. 

300. Packed. Implicated, a confederate. Cf. C. of E.v. I. 219: 
" The goldsmith there, were he not pack'd with her," etc. 

304. By her. About her. Cf. M. of V. i. 2. 60 : " How say you 
by the French lord?" L. L. L. iv. 3. 150: "I would not have him 
know so much by me," etc. 

310. A lock. Cf. iii. 3. 170 above. Prynne, in 1628, wrote a 
treatise entitled " The Unlovelinesse of Love-lockes, or a discourse 
proving the wearing of a locke to be unseemly ; " and in his His- 
triomastix he speaks of " long, unshorne, love-provoking haire, and 
lovelockes growne now too much in fashion with comly pages, 
youthes, and lewd, effeminate, ruffianly persons." 

Borrows money in God's name. That is, begs it ; alluding, 
according to Steevens, to Proverbs, xix. 17, but this is doubtful. 
Halliwell-Phillipps says that this phrase was used in the counter- 



Scene ii] Notes 225 

feit passports of the beggars, as appears from Dekker's English 
Villanies. He also cites Percivale's Dictionarie in Spanish and 
English, 1599: " Pordioseros, men that aske for God's sake, beg- 
gers." 

311. Hath used. Hath used to do, has made a practice of. Cf. 
J. C.\. 1. 14 : "a trade that I may use with a safe conscience," etc. 

320. God save the foundation ! " The customary phrase em- 
ployed by those who received alms at the gates of religious houses " 
(Steevens). 

335. Lewd. Vile, base ; as in Rich. II. i. I. 90, I Hen. IV. iii. 
2. 13, etc. Cf. Acts, xvii. 5. 

Scene II. — 6. There is a play on style and stile, and on come 
over in the senses of stcrpass and get over. Cf. L. L. I.\. I. 201 : 
" Well, sir, be it as the style shall give us cause to climb in the 
merriness ; " Id. iv. 1. 98 : — 

" Boyet. I am much deceiv'd but I remember the style. 
Princess. Else your memory is bad, going o'er it erewhile." 

10. Shall I akoays keep below stairs ? That is, in the servants' 
room, and never get married and be a mistress. 

16. I give thee the btuklers. I yield thee the victory. Steevens 
quotes Greene, Coney- Catching, 1592: "At this his master laught, 
and was glad, for further advantage, to yield the bucklers to his 
prentise ; " and Holland's Pliny ; " it goeth against his stomach 
to yeeld the gauntlet and give the bucklers." 

21. Pikes. "The circular bucklers of the 16th century, now 
called more commonly targets, had frequently a central spike, or 
pike, usually affixed by a screw. It was probably found convenient 
to detach this spike occasionally ; for instance, in cleaning the 
buckler, etc. Vice is the French vis, a screw" (Thorns). 

26. The god of love, etc. The beginning of an old song by 
William Elderton (Ritson). 

32. Carpet-7iiongers. Carpet knights, effeminate persons. Cf. 

MUCH ADO — 15 



226 Notes [Act v 

T. N. iii. 4. 258 : " He is knight, dubbed with unhatched rapier, 
and on carpet consideration." 

37. No rhyme to ' lady'' but 'baby? This rhyme occurs in the 
Musarum Delicice, quoted by Halliwell-Phillipps : — 

" Whilst all those naked bedlams, painted babies, 
Spottified faces, and Frenchified ladies." 

Innocent = silly. The noun sometimes meant an idiot ; as in 
Lear, iii. 6. 8, etc. 

41. Festival terms. In distinction from everyday language. 
Cf. M. W. iii. 2. 69 : " he writes verses, he speaks holiday ; " and 
I Hen. IV, i. 3. 46: "With many holiday and lady terms." See 
also M. of V, ii. 9. 98 : " highday wit," etc. 

48. I came. That is, came for. See on v. I. 253 above. 

56. His. Its ; as often before its came into general use. 

58. Undergoes. Is subject to. 

59. Subscribe him. Write him down, proclaim him. 

79. Of good neighbours. "That is, when men were not envious, 
but every one gave another his due" (Warburton). 

84. Question. That 's the question. Some eds. print "Ques- 
tion?" = do you ask the question ? 

85. Rheum. Tears. Cf. K. John, iii. 1. 22: "Why holds thine 
eye that lamentable rheum ?" (see also iv. 1. 33 and iv. 3. 108) ; 
Cor. v. 6. 46 : "a few drops of women's rheum ; " Ham* ii. 2. 529 : 
"with bisson rheum," etc. Cla?nour refers to the ringing of the 
bell (Schmidt). 

86. Don Worm. Conscience was formerly represented under the 
symbol of a worm. Cf. Rich. III. i. 3. 222 : " The worm of con- 
science still begnaw thy soul ! " In an account of the expenses con- 
nected with one of the old Coventry mysteries, we find " Item, payd 
to ij wormes of conscience, xvj. d." Wright refers to Mark, ix. 48. 

97. Yonder 'j old coil. In modern slang, " there 's a high old 
time." For old as a "colloquial intensive," cf. M. of V. iv. 2. 15 : 
"old swearing;" Macb. ii. 3. 2: "old turning of the key," etc. 



Scene Hi] Notes 227 

Coil — turmoil, confusion. Cf. Cotgrave, Fr. Diet. : " Faire le diable 
de vauuert, to play reaks, to keep an old coile, a horrible stirre." 
See also on iii. 3. 93 above. 

99. Abused. Deceived. Cf. Temp.N. 1. 112 : "Or some enchanted 
trifle to abuse me," etc. 

102. Presently. Immediately. See on i. I. 88 above. 

Scene III. — 3. Done to death. A common phrase in old writers. 
Cf. Promos and Cassandra, 1578 : "Is my Andrugio done to death?" 
Marlowe, Lusfs Do?ninion : " Thinking her own son is done to 
death;" Chapman, Homer: "Hector (in Chi) to death is done," 
etc. See also 2 Hen. VI iii. 2. 1 79 : " Why, Warwick, who should 
do the duke to death?" 

5. Guerdon. Recompense. Cf. L. L. L. iii. 1. 170: "There 's 
thy guerdon." S. uses the noun only twice ; but he has the verb 
in 2 Hen. VI i. 4. 49 and 3 Hen. VI. iii. 3. 191. 

8. With. Referring to the cause of the shame. Cf. ii. I. 62 above. 

11. Music. Musicians; as often. Cf. I. L. I. v. 2. 211 : "Play, 
music, then ! " M. of V. v. 1. 98 : " It is your music, madam, of the 
house ; " Hen. VIII. iv. 2. 94 : " Bid the music leave ; they are 
harsh to me," etc. 

13. Knight. Cf. A. W. i. 3. 120 : " Dian no queen of virgins, that 
would suffer her poor knight surprised, without rescue in the first 
assault or ransom afterward." Malone quotes Two Noble Kinsmen : 

" O sacred, shadowy, cold, and constant queen, 
. . . who to thy female knights 
Allow'st no more blood than will make a blush, 
Which is their order's robe," etc. 

For the rhyme of night and knight, cf. M. W. ii. I. 15, 16. 

21. Heavily, heavily. The quarto reading; the folio has 
" Heauenly, heauenly" w^hich is adopted by some editors. " Uttered 
heavenly " is explained as = " expelled (outer-ed) by the pow r er of 
Heaven." In Ham. ii. 2. 309, the folio has the same misprint of 
heavenly for heavily. Halliwell-Phillipps (followed by others) ex- 



228 Notes [Act v 

plains the passage thus : " The slayers of the virgin knight are per- 
forming a solemn requiem on the body of Hero, and they invoke 
Midnight and the shades of the dead to assist, until her death be 
uttered, that is, proclaimed, published, sorrowfully, sorrowfully." 
For myself, I prefer the other explanation, which gives to uttered 
its original sense. The meaning then is " till death be overcome or 
vanquished to the utterance" (Furness), or utterly. For utterance 
in this sense of utmost or extremity (the Fr. outrance),.see Macb. 
iii. I. 72: "champion me to the utterance ; " and Cymb. iii. 1. 73: 
" behoves me keep at utterance." 

22. Now, unto, etc. Both quarto and folio assign this speech to 
"Z<?." (Lord), but Rowe restored it to Claudio, to whom it clearly 
belongs. 

25. Wolves. Associated with night, as in M. N. D. v. 1. 379, 
Macb. ii. I. 53, etc. The lines that follow are one of the most ex- 
quisite of Shakespeare's word-pictures of sunrise. Cf. R. and J, 
ii. 3. 1-4: — 

" The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, 
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light ; " 

and Milton's "dappled dawn" in L? Allegro. 

29. Several. Separate. Cf. its use as a noun (= individual) 
in W. T. i. 2. 226, etc. 

30. Weeds. Garments, dress. Cf. M. N. D. ii. I. 256: " Weed 
wide enough to wrap a fairy in; " Id. ii. 2. 71 : " Weeds of Athens 
he doth wear," etc. 

32. Speed \r. That is, speed us (3d person, imperative) ; Thirlby's 
emendation of the " speeds " of the early eds. " Claudio could not 
know, without being a prophet, that this new proposed match should 
have any luckier event than that designed with Hero ; certainly, 
therefore, this should be a wish." Malone objects to the contrac- 
tion speed f s; but cf. W. T. i. 2. 91 : "I prithee tell me ; cram 's 
with praise, and make 's," etc. See also Id. i. 2. 94 : " you may 
ride's;" A. and C. ii. 7. 134: "give 's your hand," etc. This 



Scene IV] Notes 229 

contraction of us is frequent in the latest plays, but very rare in 
the earliest, except in the familiar let *s. 

33. Rendered up this woe. Offered this woful tribute. Cf. T. 
A. i. I. 160: — 

" Lo ! at this tomb my tributary tears 
I render for my brethren's obsequies ; " 

and K. John, v. 7. no: "O, let us pay the time but needful woe ! " 



Scene IV. — 3. Upon. On account of. See on iv. 1. 222 above. 

6. Question. Inquiry, investigation. 

7. Sort. Turn out. Cf. iv. 1. 239 above. 

8. By faith enfordd. Compelled by my pledge, obliged in 
honour. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 63 : " inward joy enforc'd my heart 
to smile," etc. 

17. Confirm 'd countenance. Steady face. Cf. Cor, i. 3. 65 : "has 
such a confirmed countenance." 

28. For. As for. Cf. iii. 2. 95 above. 

30. State. The reading of the early eds. changed by Johnson to 
" estate." The folio prints " I'th state." Marriage is probably a 
trisyllable; as in M. of V. ii. 9. 13, T. of S. iii. 2. 142, R. of L* 
221, etc. 

34. Assembly. A quadrisyllable here. Cf. Cor. i. 1. 159: "You, 
the great toe of this assembly." See on iii. I. 80 above. 

37. To marry with. Cf. M. N. D. i. I. 40: "to marry with 
Demetrius," etc. 

38. Ethiope. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 257, R. and J. i. 5. 48, etc. 
43. Bull. See on v. I. 182 above. 

45. Europa. Europe ; with an obvious play upon the word. 
For the allusion, cf. M. IV. v. 5. 4 and T. of S. i. 1. 173. 
59. Like of me. Cf. P. P. 212: — 

41 It was a lordling's daughter, the fairest one of three, 
That liked of her master as well as well might be ; " 



230 Notes [Act v 

A. W. ii. 3. 131 : — 

" thou dislikest 
Of virtue for the name," etc. 

62. Certainer. For the form, cf. "perfecter" in Cor. ii. I. 91, 
"horrider" in Cymb. iv. 2. 331, etc. 

63. DejiPd. The quarto reading ; the folio omits the word. 
Collier reads " belied," on the ground that Hero would not be 
likely to speak of herself as defiled. Of course Hero meant defiled 
by slander (cf. what Leonato says immediately after), and now that 
her innocence was established no one present could misunder- 
stand her. 

66. Whiles. See on iv. 1. 218 above. 

67. Qualify. Moderate, abate. Cf. Lear, i. 2. 176: "till some 
little time hath qualified the heat of his displeasure," etc. 

68. After that. This use of that as a " conjunctional affix " is 
very common in S. 

69. Largely. "At large " (M. N. D. v. 1. 152, etc.), in detail. 

70. Familiar. A quadrisyllable. 

71. Presently. See on i. 1. %% above. 

72. Soft and fair. A common phrase of the time. Cf. soft you, 
v. 1. 204 above. 

82. No such matter. See on ii. 3. 215 above. 

89. Writ. Used often by S. both as past tense and participle ; 
but we have zvritten just above. See on spoke, iv. 1. 94. 

90. Affection unto. Love for. Cf. Lear, i. 2. 94 : " my affection 
to your honour," etc. 

93. By this light. See on v. I. 140 above. Cf. by this good day 
just below. 

96. Consumption. The only instance in which S. uses the word 
apparently in its modern sense (Bucknill). In T. of A. iv. 3. 151 
and Lear, iv. 6. 131, the meaning is either different or less definite. 
In 2 Hen. LV. i. 2. 264 (the only other instance in S.) there is a 
play upon the word, but the reference to the disease is not 
clear. 



Scene IVJ Notes 23 1 

97. Peace, etc. Cf. Rich. II. v. 1. 95 : "One kiss shall stop our 
mouths," etc. See also ii. 1. 307 above. 

101. Flout. Mock, jeer. See on i. 1. 185 above. 

103. Beaten ivith brains. That is, mocked. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 
263 : " dry-beaten with pure scoff." Schmidt cites Ham. ii. 2. 376 : 
"much throwing about of brains" (= much satirical controversy). 

He shall wear nothing handsome about him. The meaning is 
not clear. Furness suggests : " If a man is to live in fear of an 
epigram, he will not dare to put on even a handsome suit of 
clothes, — how much less, to marry a beautiful woman." Perhaps 
it is simply = " He is n't much of a man." Cf. iv. 2. 88 above. 

no. In that. Inasmuch as. Cf. A. Y. L. \. I. 50: "in that 
you are the first-born," etc. 

114. Double-dealer. One who is unfaithful in love or wedlock. 

116. Exceeding. For the adverbial use, see on ii. 3. 158 above, 
and cf. hi. 4. 25, 51, etc. 

121. Of my word. Upon my word. 

123. More reverend. That is, because it is used by elderly 
people. The tipped staff was one of the usual accompaniments 
of old age (Halliwell-Phillipps). Cf. Chaucer. C. T. 7322: "His 
felaw [one of the begging friars] had a staf typped with horn." 
In horn the well-worn joke about the risks of married life is 
obvious. 

126. With. By; as in ii. 1. 62, iii. 1. 66, 79, and v. 1. 116 
above. 

128. Brave. Becoming, fitting (Schmidt) ; or perhaps with a 
touch of irony, as often. Cf. Temp. iii. 2. 12, A. Y. L. iii. 4. 43, 
Ham. ii. 2. 61 1, etc. 



APPENDIX 

The Title of the Play 

This play belongs to that remarkable trio which Furnivall has 
called " the three sunny or sweet-time comedies," As You Like It 
and Twelfth Night being the other two. They all belong to the 
same period, having almost certainly been written in 1599 or 1600. 
Though different in plot and varied in characterization, they are 
strikingly similar in tone and temper. They are the very perfection 
of comedy, overflowing with wit and humour, full of joy and merri- 
ment, with no greater mingling of sorrow and sadness than, by 
force of contrast, serves to give zest to the pleasure they afford ; 
and all this sorrow and sadness is but the passing cloud that for 
the moment dims the prevailing sunshine. If it threatens to be 
disastrous to any of the personages in the drama, it soon proves to 
be " much ado about nothing." 

This suggests a brief reference to the title of the play, which ap- 
plies equally well to the joyous and amusing portions of the story. 
Wherever there is much ado, it turns out to be really for nothing. 
The merry trick by which Benedick and Beatrice are to be made to 
love each other, though devised with much ingenuity and carried 
out with much skill and cunning, was after all much ado about 
nothing ; for the bachelor and the maid were ready to fall in love 
from the start, and Cupid would have brought about the inevitable 
result without the intervention of the tricksters. As Mrs. Jameson 
has remarked, " the very first words uttered by Beatrice are an in- 
quiry after Benedick, though expressed with her usual arch imper- 
tinence." " Signor Montanto," or Signor Bully, as she might call 
him now, is evidently in her thoughts, and she is eager to learn 

233 



234 Appendix 

what has been his fortune in the military expedition. He also has 
a liking for her, as appears from his telling Claudio that, " an she 
were not possessed with a fury," she excels Hero " as much in 
beauty as the first of May does the last of December." These and 
kindred foreshadowings of the love that is to be roused to a con- 
scious flame by the tricks of their friends were unquestionably 
inserted to suggest the true explanation of what comes to pass ; 
namely, Benedick and Beatrice are both ready to fall in love, but 
neither has the slightest idea of the other's feeling. As soon as 
each is made to believe that the other loves, the responsive passion, 
already in existence though not acknowledged even to themselves, 
springs at once into full life. 

The witty sparring between Benedick and Beatrice is another of 
these illustrations. The burden of their raillery is their resolution 
never to marry. Benedick will never put his neck in the matrimo- 
nial yoke. Beatrice is upon her knees every morning with a 
prayer that no husband may be sent her until men are made of 
some other metal than clay. Adam's sons are her brethren, and 
she will never be guilty of violating the ecclesiastical injunction 
against wedding her near kindred. The very intensity and exag- 
geration of these protestations show that the subject of marriage is 
always in her thoughts, and might lead us to suspect that in the 
end all this talk will prove much ado about nothing. 

As I have already intimated, the plot of Don John to ruin Hero, 
though elaborated with diabolical ingenuity, proves another illus- 
tration of the title ; and so does the passionate grief of Leonato 
over her supposed infidelity, and Claudio's tribute to her memory in 
the church after he has learned that she is innocent, but supposes 
that she has died from excess of grief at the ignominy to which she 
has been so unjustly subjected. 

Even the minor incidents of the plot are in keeping with the title 
of the play ; like Claudio's suspicion that Don Pedro has played 
him false and wooed Hero for himself. These I will not dwell 
upon, but leave the reader to trace them out if he will. As another 



Appendix 235 

has said, " the title is admirably suggestive of the character of the 
piece, which introduces us to a society whose atmosphere is one of 
perpetual holiday ; where everybody, from high to low, having 
time enough on hand and to spare, indulges in leisurely circuitous 
fashions of speed and action, productive of mistakes and misappre- 
hensions — in short, of much ado which, in the long run, always 
proves to be about nothing." 



Comments on Some of the Characters 

Benedick. — All the critics unite in doing homage to the polished 
wit and manly character of Benedick. In regard to his wit I am 
inclined to agree with Charles Cowden-Clarke that he is more than 
a match for Beatrice with her quick and sharp raillery. It is true 
that she always has the last word, but I think that she owes the 
seeming victory to his chivalrous gallantry. He knows when to 
stop, for he is a gentleman ; she never does — probably because 
she is not a gentleman, but, as Don Pedro calls her, " a pleasant- 
spirited lady," full of merry 4nischief and feeling no restraint that 
should prevent her from indulging her love of banter to the utmost. 

It is to be noted that Benedick, though he is doubtless aware 
that he is witty, has no fancy to be considered a "funny man." 
He is never more angry than when Beatrice has compared him to 
a professional jester. He is too much of a man, of a gentleman, to 
be willing to be regarded in the light of a mere buffoon. He is a 
wit, but something more than a wit — not that sort of "society 
man " whose chief title to social distinction is the gift of furnishing 
amusement by his quips and quibbles, or his skill in the quick and 
brilliant fence of repartee, but a refined gentleman with whom this 
intellectual exercise is mere by-play, and whose real claim to repu- 
tation in society rests upon sterling qualities of mind and heart. 

But the gallant gentleman has often — I might say, almost al- 
ways, except by the best actors — been degraded to this role of a 



236 Appendix 

mere " funny man " on the stage and by public readers. The 
comic side of the character has been exaggerated to the verge of 
burlesque, while his refinement and nobility of nature have been 
ignored or obscured. This of course " tickles the ears of the 
groundlings" — the vulgar portion of the audience — but it cannot 
fail to make the judicious grieve. 

Beatrice has not unfrequently suffered in the same way at the 
hands, or the tongues, of inferior actresses and the ordinary run of 
public readers. The same is more or less true of all dramatic char- 
acters not distinctly comic but having a comic side, or some trait or 
feature which is amusing or ludicrous. It requires nice discrimina- 
tion on the part of the actor or reader to do full justice to all phases 
of such characters — to show fairly the worthy or serious side, and 
to avoid overdoing the humorous side. The temptation is strong 
to set forth the latter too coarsely, so that it becomes a mere cari- 
cature for popular effect. 

It is interesting, by the way, to compare the soliloquies of Bene- 
dick and Beatrice after they have been caught in the net spread for 
them by their mischievous friends. The speech of Benedick is in 
prose, and it is a significant example of Shakespeare's use of prose. 
There is sentiment in it, but, as is natural enough for a man, the 
comical side of the situation forces itself upon his attention. He 
pledges the return of the love at once, as Beatrice does: "Love 
me ! why, it must be requited ; " but the fun that his friends will 
make of it instantly occurs to him. He dwells most amusingly 
upon the risk he is running, but decides that he will not regard it. 
He may chance " to have some odd quirks and remnants of wit 
broken upon " him, but that shall not keep him from the career of 
his humour. " I must not seem proud," he says ; " happy are they 
that hear their detractions and can put them to mending" — the 
exact counterpart to the resolution of Beatrice to correct her faults 
for her lover's sake. 

The soliloquy of Beatrice (see p. 15 above), equally sympathetic 
and affectionate, is in verse. This is true to feminine nature, and 



Appendix 237 

strikingly illustrates the poets wonderful insight into the heart of 
woman. At such a moment, when the light of love — such love — 
first breaks upon her, there is no room in that heart for anything 
but the sacred joy of the revelation and the holy consecration of 
the responsive passion. The humorous aspect of the situation, if 
such there be, cannot occur to her as it may to a man. That mo- 
ment in which she pledges her love to the man who loves her is no 
less serious, no less solemn, than that in which she confirms the 
pledge at the altar. 

Beatrice. — To what I have already said of Beatrice in the 
introduction (p. 13 fol.) it may be added that she reminds us of 
Katherine the Shrew, who is not the vulgar vixen that some critics 
have made her, but a true warm-hearted woman who comes to 
love the man that has wooed and won her in such unconventional 
fashion. Kate, however, has serious faults before she is "tamed," 
while from the worst of these Beatrice is free. Kate is really some- 
thing of a shrew at first, owing to her father's misapprehension of 
her nature and to her mealy-mouthed sister's companionship ; and 
Petruchio restores her to her better self by the peculiar but judi- 
cious discipline to which he subjects her. Beatrice is more fortu- 
nate in her surroundings — in the love of her uncle and the 
sympathy of her cousin. Her shrewishness, if it may be called so, 
is only affected. Antonio says of her, "Faith, she 's too curst" 
(that is, too shrewish), but she merely appears so. Like Benedick 
she professf s ~o be averse to marriage and breaks many jests on the 
subject, but it is solely because the fated lover has not appeared — 
or, rather, that she has not recognized him as such. She had 
rather hear her dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves her. 
but how promptly she welcomes the right man when she is led to 
believe that he loves her, and would swear to it but for his fear of 
her sharp tongue ! There is something charmingly characteristic 
in the speech we have already considered, where she adds to the 
promise of requiting Benedick's love "Taming my wild heart to 
thy loving hand." She has just said, "Contempt, farewell, and 



238 Appendix 

maiden pride, adieu ! " She accepts the reproof that Hero and 
Margaret have given her in their talk in the garden, when she 
supposes they are not aware she is listening : — 

" But Nature never fram'd a woman's heart 
Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice ; 
Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes, 
Misprising what they look on, and her wit 
Values itself so highly that to her 
All matter else seems weak." 

And when she hears that this habit of hers has been the means of 
keeping the man whom she admires, while she rails at him, from 
declaring his passionate love for her, she blames herself overmuch. 
She has been proud and disdainful, but she will be so no longer. 
She will tame her wild heart to the loving hand of the man who 
has suffered so keenly on her account. This resolution is enough 
of itself to prove that her feeling for Benedick is now something 
more than friendly. Love alone could lead her to see her faults, 
and to resolve to tame herself that she might be worthy of love in 
return. Kate could not thus tame herself, but when her husband 
has tamed her she is as loving a wife as Beatrice must have proved. 
Beatrice, like Kate, is a motherless girl ; and so are nearly all 
of Shakespeare's young heroines — among them Miranda, Portia 
{Merchant of Venice), Rosalind and Celia, Viola, Ophelia, Desde- 
mona, Cordelia, Isabel {Measure for Measure), and Helena {All's 
Well). The only noteworthy exceptions (leaving out of account 
the historical plays), are Perdita {Winter's Tale), Juliet {Romeo 
and Juliet), and Marina {Pericles). Imogen {Cymbeline) has a 
stepmother. In the plays with a mother, the story requires the 
presence of the character. In the others the omission may be 
accounted for — partially at least — by the fact that, as all female 
parts were in the days of Shakespeare performed by boys or young 
men, it was more difficult to find good actors for them than for the 
male parts. The young players of female parts were available only 



Appendix 239 

until their voices had changed, when new boys or youths must be 
found to take their places. 

Claudio. — Shakespeare not unfrequently gives some of his love- 
liest maidens to husbands who are not worthy of them ; and Hero 
is a notable instance of the kind, like Helena in All f s Well, Julia 
in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hermione in The Winter s 
Tale, and Imogen in Cymbeline. We wonder that Hero could 
have loved Claudio. If she had not been one of these soft, sweet, 
affectionate young creatures who are apt to see the ideal of their 
hearts in the first good-looking young fellow they get intimately 
acquainted with, it could never have come to pass. We all have 
known such women, and we know what sad mistakes they often 
make in their marriages. 

The one redeeming trait in Claudio is a high sense of honour; 
and even that we are half compelled to regard as merely conven- 
tional when we attempt to reconcile it with the rest of his charac- 
ter. He loves Hero, or fancies that he does, but has not the spirit 
or courage to woo her for himself. Be it noted that it is not 
because, like Miles Standish, he is " a blunt old captain, a man 
not of words but of actions, a maker of war, and not a maker of 
phrases ; " for is he not the " exquisite Claudio," and can he not 
tell the story of his love in sufficiently rhetorical style to Don Pedro 
when he asks his help in gaining the " only heir " of Leonato ? It 
was not without design that Shakespeare made him begin his talk 
with the question, " Hath Leonato any son, my lord ? " and Don 
Pedro apparently understood the point of the question when he 
replied, " No child but Hero ; she 's his only heir." I believe that 
no commentator has called attention to the fact that the question 
was an absurd one, for Claudio says in his very next speech that he 
had been acquainted with Hero before he went on the expedition 
which has just ended, and had then 

11 look'd upon her with a soldier's eye, 
That lik'd, but had a rougher task in hand 
Than to drive liking to the name of love." 



240 Appendix 

Of course he must have known whether she had a brother or not. 
Shakespeare must have introduced the question for some special 
reason, and the answer indicates plainly enough what the reason 
was. Claudio had an eye to the lady's fortune, and wants to be 
sure about that before he makes love to her by proxy. 

But why does he make love by proxy ? I suspect that it is be- 
cause he is morbidly afraid of the possible refusal. He is not will- 
ing to risk that mortification in his own person, and therefore 
delegates the business to his friend, who consents to do it for him. 

One or two other things in this talk with Don Pedro are to be 
noted, though I am not aware that they have been considered 
worthy of comment before. 

In one of his first speeches about his love for Hero, he begins 
thus : " If my passion change not shortly," etc. Does a true lover 
ever admit the possibility of change in his passion ? He would 
resent the insinuation that such a thing could be. As Shakespeare 
himself has said in the 11 6th Sonnet, 

" Love is not love 
Which alters when it alteration finds, 
Or bends with the remover to remove. 
O, no ! it is an ever-fixed mark 
That looks on tempests and is never shaken ; 
It is the star to every wandering bark, 
Whose worth 's unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love 's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 
Within his bending sickle's compass come ; 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom." 

A moment later Don Pedro says, in response to Claudio's declara- 
tion of love for Hero, " Amen, if you love her, for the lady is very 
well worthy." Claudio replies, " You say this to fetch me in, my 
lord" — or, as we should say, "to draw me out." It is an illustra- 
tion of the sneaking, suspicious nature of the man. He is con- 
stantly in fear of being made fun of. Here he suspects his best 



Appendix 241 

friend of wishing to draw him out that he may laugh at him after- 
wards. No wonder that Don Pedro answers almost indignantly, 
"By my troth, I speak my thought" — that is, "I say just what I 
mean, with no ulterior purpose." 

In the next scene, when the villain Don John tells Claudio that 
Don Pedro has betrayed him and wooed Hero for himself, Claudio 
believes the falsehood at once : — 

11 'T is certain so ; the prince wooes for himself. 
Friendship is constant in all other things 
Save in the office and affairs of love." 

It is even more to his discredit that he is so ready to believe the 
evil reports concerning Hero, though they come from the same dis- 
reputable and suspicious source as the falsehood about Don Pedro. 
I believe that some critic has expressed surprise that Don Pedro 
should have been so easily deceived by Don John's monstrous and 
quite incredible charges against the gentle Hero ; but when her 
lover, who should have defended her or refused to distrust her 
purity until absolute and incontrovertible evidence of her wanton- 
ness had been produced, has not a word to say in her favour, it is 
not surprising that Don Pedro accepts his view of the case. The 
fact that he has acted as Claudio's proxy in the wooing of Hero, and 
therefore feels a certain responsibility for bringing about the match, 
would naturally make him hesitate to take the lady's part, even if 
he had doubts concerning her guilt. When Claudio first hears Don 
John's story, his response is only " May this be so ? " instead of the 
indignant " This cannot be ! " which would be the instinctive ex- 
clamation of a true lover. Don Pedro, less ready to distrust Hero, 
says, " I will not think it." Don John replies that he will convince 
him that it is true by the evidence of his own eyes. Claudio at 
once declares that, if he sees anything why he should not marry her, 
he will disgrace her publicly before the marriage altar. The vin- 
dictive brutality of this resolution needs no comment ; and Claudio 
carries it out in the most cold-blooded manner. His final utterance 
before leaving the church is characteristic : — 
much ado — 16 



242 Appendix 

" For thee I '11 lock up all the gates of love, 
And on my eyelids shall conjecture hang, 
To turn all beauty into thoughts of harm, 
And never shall it more be gracious." 

Since Hero has proved unchaste, he will be suspicious of all 
women. " On my eyelids shall conjecture hang ! " That is his 
easily besetting sin. The slightest hint of evil leads him instantly 
to conjecture the worst. 

Later in the play his treatment of Leonato and Antonio is con- 
temptuous and unfeeling in the extreme. He either cannot see, or 
seeing cannot sympathize with their deep affliction at the bereave- 
ment and domestic disgrace they have suffered. There could not 
be clearer proof that he does not seriously feel his own loss. A 
moment afterwards, when Benedick comes in, Claudio says to him : 
"We had like to have had our two noses snapped off with two old 
men without teeth." This is in the same unfeeling vein. Don 
Pedro says nothing like it, and in the preceding interview with 
Leonato and Antonio his tone was considerate and conciliatory. 
" Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man " are his expostulatory 
words, while every utterance of Claudio is a sneer, calculated to in- 
flame their grief and wrath rather than to allay them. 

After referring to the quarrel with the old men, Claudio says to 
Benedick, " We have been up and down to seek thee ; for we are 
high-proof melancholy, and would fain have it beaten away. Wilt 
thou use thy wit ? " This jocose allusion to his feelings confirms our 
impression of his heartlessness. The lover, whose bride has been 
discarded at the altar for alleged unchastity, feels only a " high- 
proof melancholy " which Benedick's witty talk will serve to relieve 
or dispel ! 

When Hero is proved innocent Claudio seems to feel something 
like genuine compunction for his hasty repudiation of the maiden. 
"Yet sinn'd I only in mistaking," he urges. But when Leonato 
proposes that Claudio shall take a niece whom he has never 
seen in place of the daughter whose death he has caused by 



Appendix 243 

his rash suspicions, the readiness with which the frivolous fellow 
accepts the offer is in keeping with all that we know of him. The 
remark of Leonato that " she alone is heir to both of us " may have 
had something to do with his prompt decision. He goes through 
with the ceremony in memory of Hero in the church, hanging a 
funeral elegy on her tomb ; but his words as he leaves the sacred 
edifice indicate that his thoughts are with the living bride rather 
than the lost one : — 

" And Hymen now with better issue speed 's 
Than this for whom we render'd up this woe ! " 

May I have better luck in the second marriage than in the first ! 
A poor shallow creature this ! Hero is much too good for him, and 
I seriously doubt whether even her saintly influence ever made a 
true man of him. 

I am aware that certain critics take a different view of Claudio's 
character, but I cannot believe that they have given due consider- 
ation to the accumulated evidence against him, while there is so 
little that can be said in his favour. He has been a good soldier, 
as we learn in the first scene ; and as I have said he appears to 
have a high sense of honour, as might be expected in a soldier ; 
but as a lover and a friend he is disloyal, and as a man he is de- 
ficient in all the finer traits of manly character. 

Dogberry and Verges. — Coleridge remarks that Dogberry and 
Verges are " forced into the service of the plot when any other less 
ingeniously absurd watchmen would have answered the mere neces- 
sities of the action." " On the contrary," as another critic has said, 
"the necessities of the action absolutely demand these twin speci- 
mens of blundering officialdom, for had they been less given to 
illogical and perverse circumlocution of speech, the exposure of 
Hero would have been avoided, and with it the occasion that 
finally unites Benedick and Beatrice. With the secret already in 
their possession the two worthies wait on Leonato on the very 
morning of the marriage ; but they are so occupied in each tak- 



244 Appendix 



ing the word out of the other's mouth, and in bestowing all their 
tediousness upon his worship, that before they can come to the 
point of their story he has to hurry off to the church." 

Whether Dogberry and Verges are absolutely necessary to the 
working out of the plot or not, who would banish them from the 
drama ? Aside from their delightful humour, the part they play in 
the action is peculiarly interesting and instructive. How admira- 
bly they illustrate the fact that not unfrequently the weak things of 
the world serve to confound the strong, and the plans of the wicked 
and wise are spoiled by the honest and foolish ! Dogberry and his 
mates detect and expose the trickery that had deceived all their 
superiors in rank and culture. As Borachio says to Don Pedro, 
" I have deceived even your very eyes ; what your wisdoms could 
not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light." It is Dog- 
berry who vindicates Hero, and saves her good-for-nothing lover 
from the fate he deserved at the hands of Benedick. Even stupid- 
ity has its uses in the world, and if it be honest and faithful, it may 
triumph over the cursed craft of those who look down upon it with 
contempt. These villains had called Dogberry an " ass," but they 
were worse fools than he. There is no folly like that of the man 
who hopes to make falsehood and malice successful in the long run. 
The clown who does his duty according to his imperfect view of it 
may bring the best-laid schemes of the shrewd plotter to a dis- 
graceful and disastrous end. 



The Time-Analysis of the Play 

This is summed up by Mr. P. A. Daniel ( Trans, of New Shaks. 
Soc. 1 877-1 889, p. 144) as follows : — 

" In the endeavour to make the action of the play agree as far 
as possible with Leonato's determination in Act II. sc. i., that the 
marriage of Claudio and Hero shall take place on ' Monday . . . 
which is hence a just seven-night,' I have supposed the following 
days to be represented on the stage : 



Appendix 245 

" 1. Monday. Act I. and sc. i. of Act II. 

" 2. Tuesday. Act II. sc. ii. 

" 3. Wednesday. Act II. sc. iii. 

"I place this scene in the third day (Wednesday). The love- 
conspirators would scarcely defer their attempt on Benedick's peace 
of mind to a later date ; but yet, for the verisimilitude of their 
description of Beatrice's passion — ' she '11 be up twenty times a 
night, and there will she sit in her smock till she have writ a sheet 
of paper,' etc. — we must suppose a night or two to have passed 
since the opening scene. 

" Thursday. ) 

" Friday. > Blank. 

" Saturday. J 

"4. Sunday. Act III. sc. i.-iii. 

" In the opening speech of scene ii. Don Pedro says, * I do but 
stay till your marriage be consummate, and then go I toward Arra- 
gon.' He has changed his mind, then, since the opening day, when 
he proposed to stay ' at the least a month] with Leonato. 

" 5. Monday. Act III. sc. iv. and v., Act IV. sc. i. and ii., Act V. 
sc. i., ii., and part of iii. 

" 6. Tuesday. Act V. sc. iii. (in part), and sc. iv. 

" The first Tuesday even in this scheme might very well be left a 
blank, and the sc. ii. of Act II. be included in the opening Monday. 

" I believe, however, that just as the Prince forgets his determina- 
tion to stay 'at the least a month' at Messina, so the 'just seven- 
night' to the wedding was also either forgotten or intentionally set 
aside, and that only four consecutive days are actually included in 
the action of the drama. 

" 1. Act I. and Act II. sc. i. and ii. 

" 2. Act II. sc. iii. and Act III. sc. i.-iii. 

" 3. Act III. sc. iv. and v., Act IV., Act V. sc. i., ii., and part 
of iii. 

" 4» Act V. part of sc. iii. and sc. iv." 

I am inclined to think that Mr. Daniel's perplexity in regard to 



246 Appendix 

some points is due — partially at least — to Shakespeare's peculiar 
treatment of " dramatic time," to which I have referred more at 
length in the introduction to the revised As You Like It. 



List of Characters in the Play 

The numbers in parentheses indicate the lines the characters 
have in each scene. 

Don Pedro: i. 1 (66) ; ii. 1 (71), 3(71) ; iii. 2(51) ; iv. I (12) ; 
v - I (70> 3 (7)> 4 (7)- Whole no. 356. 

Don John : i. 1(2), 3(46); ii. 1(12), 2(19); iii. 2(38); iv. 
1 (8). Whole no. 125. 

Claudio : i. 1 (40) ; ii. 1 (28), 3 (37) ; iii. 2 (35) ; iv. 1 (59) ; 
v. 1 (58), 3(15), 4(21). Whole no. 293. 

Benedick: i. 1 (99) ; ii. I (85), 3(88) ; iii. 2 (9) ; iv. I (52) ; 
v. 1 (25), 2 (66), 4(50). Whole no. 474. 

Leonato: i. 1(35), 2(14) ; ii. 1 (39), 3 (46) ; iii. 2 (4), 5 (17) ; 
iv. 1 (69) ; v. 1 (108), 4(25). Whole no. 357. 

Antonio : i. 2(15) ; ii. I (7) ; v. 1 (32), 4(3). Whole no. 57. 

Balthazar : ii. 1 (16), 3(26). Whole no. 32. 

Conrade : i. 3(15) ; iii. 3 (20) ; iv. 2(6). Whole no. 41. 

Borachio: i. 3(16); ii. 1(4), 2(39); iii. 3(53); iv. 2(4); 
v. 1 (24). W T hole no. 140. 

Friar Francis : iv. I (75) ; v. 4(9). Whole no. 84. 

Dogberry : iii. 3(72), 5 (41) ; iv. 2(50) ; v. I (35); Whole no. 
198. 

Verges : iii. 3 (14), 5 (9) ; iv. 2 (5) ; v. 1 (2). Whole no. 30. 

1st Watch: iii. 3(26) ; iv. 2(6). Whole no. 32. 

2d Watch : iii. ^(8) ; iv. 2(3). Whole no. 11. 

Sexton: iv. 2(17). Whole no. 17. 

Boy : ii. 3(2). Whole no. 2. 

Lord: v. 3(11). Whole no. 11. 



Appendix 247 

Messenger : i. I (30). Whole no. 30. 

Hero: i. 1 (2) ; ii. 1 (11) ; iii. 1 (78), 4 (18) ; iv. I (18); v. 4(8). 
Whole no. 135. 

Beatrice: i. 1(57); ii. 1(124), 3(8); iii. 1(10), 4(18); iv. 
J (57); v. 2(24), 4(11). Whole no. 309. 

Margaret : ii. 1 (6) ; iii. 1 (1), 4 (58) ; v. 2 (10). Whole no. 75. 

Ursula : ii. I (11) ; iii. I (29), 4(5) ; v. 2(6). Whole no. 51. 

In the above enumeration, parts of lines are counted as whole 
lines, making the total in the play greater than it is. The actual 
number of lines in each scene (Globe edition numbering) is as fol- 
lows: i. 1(330), 2(29), 3(77); ii. 1(404), 2(58), 3(273) ; iii. 
I(ll6), 2(137), 3(193), 4(99), 5( 6 9); iv. i(34o), 2(90); v. 
1(341), 2(106), 3(33)» 4(130- Whole no. in the play, 2826. 



INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 



a (with verbal), 188 
abused (= deceived), 172, 

227 
account, to make an, 161 
ache (pronunciation), 196 
achiever, 143 
Adam, 153 
advertisement, 216 
advise, 209 
afeard, 178 
affect (= love), 154 
affection, 171 
affection unto, 230 
after (adverb), 155 
agate, 182 

aim better at me, 188 
alliance, 169 
alms, 178 
ambles, 221 
ancientry, 163 
angel (play upon), 173 
another (= the other) , 179 
answer (legal), 222 
antic (= buffoon), 182 
anticly, 219 

apparitions (metre), 205 
apprehension, 197 
approved (=proved), 171, 

201, 210 
argument (= power of 

reasoning), 183 
argument (= proof), 179 
argument (= subject), 

152, 172 
arras, 159 

as (omitted), 174, 177 
as full as (= fully as), 181 
assembly (metre), 229 
at a word, 163 
Ate, 167 
attired in wonder, 205 

badge, 143 
baldrick, 152 
ballad-maker's pen, 152 



barns (play upon), 196 
bear-herd, 161 
bear in hand, 210 
bear it coldly, 188 
beaten with brains, 231 
become of (= come of), 

207 
behaviours, 172 
being that, 209 
bell (watchman's), 189 
Bel's priests, 192 
bent, 179, 206 
beshrew, 217 
bethink you, 223 
bill (play upon), 193 
bills, setting up, 146 
bills (weapons), 144, 189 
bird-bolt, 144 
biting, 206 
black (= dark), 182 
blazon, 169 
block, 147 

blood (= blushes), 203 
blood (= disposition), 158 
blood (= passion), 165, 

178 
bloods, 192 
boarded, 164 

Borachio (derivation), 191 
born under Saturn, 157 
borrow money in God's 

name, 224 
both in a tale, 212 
brave, 231 

break with, 154, 156, 188 
breathing (= interval), 

170 
bring (= accompany), 185 
broke cross, 220 
bucklers, to give the, 225 
buried face upwards, 187 
but (transposed), 166 
by (= about) , 224 
by (= from) , 205 
by the mass, 213 

249 



by this (of time), 143 
by this light, 220, 230 

candle-wasters, 214 
canker (= canker-rose), 

capon (play upon), 221 
Carduus benedictus, 197 
care killed a cat, 220 
carpet-mongers, 225 
carriage (= bearing), 158 
carry (= manage), 179, 

207 
case (= mask), 163 
censured (= judged), 179 
certainer, 230 
chain (usurer's), 165 
Cham, the great, 169 
charge (= burden), 148 
charge (constable's), 189 
charm for toothache, 188 
cheapen, 173 
cheer, 160 
chid at, 204 
church-bench, 191 
cinque-pace, 162 
circumstances, 188 
civil (play upon), 169 
clamour, 226 
claw (= flatter), 157 
clerk, 163 
cog, 219 
coil, 191, 226 
come over (play upon), 

225 
commendable (accent), 

182 
commodity (play upon), 

193 a 
composed, 223 

conceit, 169 

conditions, 187 

conference, 179, 180 

confirmed countenance, 

229 



250 Index of Words and Phrases 



conjecture (= suspicion) , 

203 
consummate, 185 
consumption, 230 
contemptible, 178 
content yourself, 218 
controlment, 157 
convert (intransitive), 148 
conveyance, 167 
counsel, 178 
Count Comfect, 211 
county (= count), 165, 

170, 211 
courtesies, 211 
cousins, 156 
cry you mercy, 156 
cue, 169 

cunning (=knowing), 223 
curiously, 221 
curst, 160 
curtsy, 161 
cuts, 194 

daffed, 178, 218 
dangerous, 219 
deadly (adverb), 221 
dear, 148, 201, 212 
dearness of heart, 188 
defeat (= ruin), 201 
defend (= forbid), 163, 

212 
deny (= refuse), 210 
deprave (= slander), 219 
despite (verb), 172 
Dian (=moon), 202 
difference, for a, 147 
discover (= reveal), 156, 

177, 188 
disloyal, 188 
displeasure, 159, 179 
division, 222 
do him so ill-well, 163 
do me right, 221 
doctor (= learned man), 

222 
Dogberry, 189 
Don Worm, 226 
done to death, 227 
dotage, 178 
double-dealer, 231 
doubt (= suspect), 219 
down sleeves, 194 
draw, 220 

draw (play upon), 186 
drovier, 165 
drum and fife, 173 



dumb show, 179 
dumps, 176 

eat (= eaten) , 207 
eat your word, 210 
ecstasy (= madness), 177 
eftest, 213 
element, 170 
enamoured on, 164 
encounters, 192, 203 
enforced (= compelled) , 

229 
engaged (= pledged), 212 
enraged (= intense) , 177 
entertained for, 159 
estimation (= worth), 171 
Ethiope, 229 
Europa, 229 
even (= plain), 210 
every day, to-morrow, 183 
exceeding (adverb), 178, 

231 
exceeds (intransitive), 194 
excellent (adverb), 178 
eye and prospect, 208 

fairest grant, 155 
faith, 147, 165 
familiar (metre), 230 
fancy (= love), 186 
fashion-monging, 219 
father (verb), 148 
favour (=face), 163 
fence, 217 
festival terms, 226 
fetch in, 152 
fine (= end), 152 
fire in the ears, 184 
fleer, 217 

flight (= arrow), 144 
flout (=mock), 154,219, 

231 
flout old ends, 154 
flouting Jack, 149 
foining, 218 
fool, 169 

for (= as for), 188, 229 
frame (= devising), 207 
frame (= order), 204 
framed (= devised), 217 
from (= away from), 182 
full of proof, 219 
furnish (= dress), 183 

galliard, 162 
gallop, false, 198 



girdle, to turn his, 220 

gives me out, 166 

go about (= undertake), 

157, 202 
go in (= join in), 150 
go to church, 170 
go to the world, 169 
God save the foundation ! 

225 
God 's a good man, 199 
good den, 188, 219 
good-year, the, 156 
gowns (of constables), 212 
grace (= favour), 157, 173 
gracious (= lovely), 203 
guarded (= trimmed), 

guerdon, 227 
gull (= trick), 177 
g«ts, 175 

had as lief, 176 
had like, 219 
haggards, 181 
hale (= draw), 175 
halfpence, 177 
hand, a dry, 163 
hang (play upon), 186 
hangman, 185 
happiness (= good luck) , 

148 
have it full, 148 
hearken after, 222 
hear tell, 170 
heart-burned, 160 
heavily, 227 

Hercules, the shaven, 192 
high-proof, 220 
his (= its), 226 
hobby-horses, 188 
hold friends with, 148 
hold it up, 177 
holds you well, 188 
holp, 145 
honest as the skin between 

his brows, 198 
honest slanders, 183 
how (= however) , 182, 

221 
Hundred Merry Tales, 164 

I '11 none, 161, 173 
idea (= image), 208 
ill-well, 163 

important (= importu- 
nate), 161 



Index of Words and Phrases 



251 



impose me to, 224 
impossible, 164, 167 
in (=into), 173 
in question, 193 
in respect of, 194 
in such a kind, 207 
in that, 231 
in the career, 220 
in the fleet, 164 
in the height, 210 
incensed, 223 
infinite (noun), 177 
injuries, 209 
inkhorn, 199 
innocent (= silly), 226 
Innogen, 142 
instances, 172 
intend (= pretend), 172 
invention, 207, 224 
inwardness, 209 

Jack, 149, 218 
Jack Wilson, 175 
jade's trick, 149 
jealous complexion, 169 
jealousy (= suspicion), 

172 
Jew (contemptuous), 180 
just (= exact), 170 
just (=just so), 161, 221 

keep below stairs, 225 
keep himself warm, 147 
kid-fox, 174 
kind (= natural) , 143 
kindly (= natural) , 202 
kindness (= tenderness) , 

x .43 
knight (feminine), 227 
knit, 201 

labour (transitive), 224 

lacked (= missing) , 208 

lantern, 189 

lapwing, 180 

large (= free, broad) , 178, 

201 
largely, 230 
learn (= teach) , 201 
leavy, 176 
let it cool, 178 
level (= aim) , 209 
lewd (=vile), 225 
liberal (= licentious), 203 
light (play upon) , 195 
Light o' love, 196 



like of me, 229 

limed, 184 

liver, 208 

lock (= love-lock), 192, 

224 
lodge in a warren, a, 166 
low (of stature), 182 
lustihood, 217 
lute-string, 187 
luxurious (= lustful), 201 

mannerly (adverb), 162 

March-chick, 159 

marry with, 229 

match (= marry), 161 

matter (= sense), 170 

may (= can), 203, 210 

me, 159, 192 

measure (play upon), 162 

meddle or make, 190 

medicinable, 171 

meet with (= even with) , 

145 
merely (= entirely), 179 
merry (= joyful), 161 
mile (plural), 173 
mired, 204 
misgovernment, 203 
misprising, 181 
misprision, 206 
misuse (= deceive), 172 
misused (= abused), 166 
model, 158 
moe, 176 
Montanto, 143 
moral, 198, 215 
mortal, we are all, 146 
mortifying, 157 
mountain of affection, 170 
move (a question), 202 
moving-delicate, 208 
music (= musicians), 227 

naught, 221 

naughty, 214 

near (— intimate with) , 

164 
news (number), 156, 164 
night-gown, 194 
night-raven, 176 
no such matter, 150, 179 
noble (play upon), 173 
non-come, 200 
nor . . . not, 164 
not (transposed), 206 
note (= mark), 187 



nothing (pronunciation), 

*74 
nuptial, 202 

of (=by), 148 

of (= on), 198 

of (partitive), 149 

of my word, 231 

off the matter, 198 

old, 226 

old ends, 154 

on (=of ), 204 

only (transposed), 164, 

185 
orb, 202 
orchard (= garden), 156, 

172 
orthography, 173 
ostentation, 207 
outfacing, 218 
outward happiness, 178 
outward hideousness, 219 
overborne, 178 
overmastered, 161 

packed, 224 
paint out, 188 
palabras, 198 
paper bullets, 180 
partridge wing, 164 
passion (= sorrow), 215 
patience (trisyllable), 214, 

215 
pent-house, 191 
Philemon's roof, 163 
piece of flesh, 214 
Pigmies, 168 
pikes, 225 
pipe and tabor, 173 
pleached, 180 
pleasant, 144 
please it, 149 
pleasure (verb), 220 
pluck up, 222 
possess (= inform), 224 
possessed (= influenced) , 

192 
pound (plural), 148, 199 
practice (= plotting), 206, 

223 
preceptial medicine, 215 
predestinate, 149 
present (= represent), 191 
presently, 148, 155, 172, 

209 
press to death, 182 



252 Index of Words and Phrases 



Prester John, 168 
prized (= estimated), 183 
project, 182 
prolonged, 209 
proof (= experience), 165 
proof (= trial), 201 
proper (= handsome), 178 
proper (ironical), 158, 211 
properest, 221 
propose (noun), 180 
proposing (^talking) , 180 
protest (= proclaim), 221 
push, 216 

quaint, 195 
qualify, 230 
quarrel to, a, 166 
queasy, 171 
question, 193, 229 
quips, 179 
quirks, 179 
quit (= requite) , 207 

rabato, 193 

rack, 208 

rearward, 204 

reasons (play upon), 222 

recheat, 152 

reclusive, 209 

reechy, 192 

remorse (=pity), 208 

render (= give) , 201 

render up this woe, 229 

reportingly, 185 

reprove (= disprove), 179 

reverence, 217 

rheum (= tears) , 226 

rob from, 158 

rule (= disorder), 190 

's (=it's), 194 

sad (= serious), 149, 159, 

170 
sadly (= seriously), 179 
salved, 155 

Saturn, born under, 157 
saving your reverence, 

195 
scab (play upon), 191 
scambling, 218 
scape, 148 

scorn with my heels, 196 
season (verb), 204 
self-endeared, 182 
sentences, 180 
seven-night, 170 



several (= separate), 228 

shames, 205 

shrewd, 160 

side sleeves, 194 

sigh away Sundays, 150 

simpleness, 182 

sits the wind, 177 

slops, 186 

smirched, 192, 204 

smoking musty room, 159 

so (omitted), 204 

soft and fair, 230 

soft you, 222 

sort (=fall out), 209, 229 

sort (= rank), 143 

speaks poniards, 167 

speed \s, 228 

spell backward, 182 

spirits (monosyllable) ,203 

squarer, 148 

squire (contemptuous), 

158 
staff (= lance), 220 
stale (= wanton), 172, 202 
stalk (verb), 176 
stand thee, 201 
start-up, 159 
still (= constantly), 148 
stomach, 157, 180 
stops (of lute), 187 
strain (= family), 171 
strain (= feeling), 214 
study, 208 
stuff (noun), 181 
stuffed, 146 
style (play upon), 225 
style of gods, 216 
subscribe, 226 
success (= issue) , 208 
sufferance, 216 
suffigance, 199 
suit (= agree), 214 
sunburnt, 169 
sure, 160 

swift (= ready), 183 
sword (swearing by), 210 
sworn brother, 147 

take up (play upon), 193 
tax (= reproach), 145 
temper (=mix), 171 
temporize, 153 
terminations, 167 
that, 177 

thee (= thou), 180 
there 's an end, 164 



thick-pleached, 156, 180 
this seven year, 192 
though, 165 
throughly, 207 
thy much, 203 
tickling (trisyllable), 183 
tinsel, 195 

tire (= head-dress) , 194 
't is once, 155 
to (in comparisons), 222 
to thy head, 217 
tongues, he hath the, 221 
toothache, charm for, 188 
toothpicker, 168 
trace (=walk), 180 
trans-shape, 221 
treatise (= talk), 155 
trencher-man, 146 
trial of a man, 217 
trim (ironical), 211 
trow, 197 
truer, 143 
tuition, 153 
turned Turk, 197 
tyrant, 149 

unclasp (metaphor), 155 
unconfirmed, 192 
underborne, 195 
undergoes, 226 
untowardly, 189 
up and down, 163 
upon, 208, 213, 223 
use (= interest) , 168 
used (= practised), 225 
usurer's chain, 165 

valuing of, 204 
Venice, 153 
Verges, 189 
very much glad, 143 
vice (= screw), 225 
victual, 145 
vouchsafe, 185 

wag (= begone), 215 

wake (= rouse), 219 

walk (= withdraw), 179 

wash his face, 187 

watchings, 171 

weak, 181 

weeds (= dress) , 228 

well-favoured, 189 

well-suited, 223 

what (= who), 146, 164 

what is he for a fool? 158 



Index of Words and Phrases 



2 53 



when all 's done, 175 

which (=what), 163 

whiles, 223 

whisper (transitive), 180 

who (=whom), 150, 222 

wide, 202 

willow (emblem of un- 
happy love), 165 

win me and wear me, 
218 

winded, 152 



wisdoms, 206, 223 
wise gentleman, 221 
wish (= bid), 181 
wit (= wisdom), 178 
with (=by), 161, 231 
withal, 156, 180 
wits, five, 146 
woe, 229 
wolves, 229 

woman of the world, 169 
woo, 174 



woodcock (= a fool), 221 
woollen, in the, 161 
world to see, a, 199 
worm (causing tooth- 
ache), 186 
worm (of conscience), 

226 
wring (= writhe), 215 
writ (= written), 230 
write against, 202 
wronged, 166 



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